Lights Burn Brightest In The Dark
by SuperiorFreak
Summary: It was just a game. An admittedly fun and addicting game, but just a game. It had a fictional universe that was surprisingly fleshed out considering the game didn't even have a campaign or anything. And me? I was just an average player, I would play league late at night, with a friend or two. So when I died, why did I wake up in the body of a newborn Luxanna Crownguard? Lux SI/OC
1. Chapter 1

**This story is rated M. I prefer realistic stories rather than everything being sunshine and daisies.**

**This is a Self-Insert/reincarnation story. Reincarnated as Luxanna Crownguard**

**BTW I don't do trigger warnings. This is the only warning I will give. I find they spoil stories if you already know something bad/triggering is gonna happen at the beginning of a chapter.**

**If you cant handle it... press AltF4, it will solve all your problems guaranteed.**

**Chapter 1**

I stared at the screen in front of me. My gaze was unbelieving and my mouth was open in shock. The video I had just seen was unbelievable. Though my shock was short-lived and was quickly replaced with excitement.

Riot Games had blown everyone out of the water that day, releasing shocking news after shocking news. A card game, a mobile version of League, a console version, and even a gods damned FPS. After ten years of Memehood, they were finally putting the S in Riot Games.

But none of that is what had shocked me into a stupor. No, that title belonged to the trailer they dropped a few minutes ago. They were making a tv show….a fucking TV SHOW!

I had started playing League of Legends around four years ago at the behest of my friend, though I think he regretted it when he realized he would have to teach me practically everything that to him was obvious.

_I mean honestly what the hell was a gank? Was that even a real word?_

But thankfully he had the patience of a saint and he helped me get to level thirty.

After a few months, I had gotten curious and binge-watched all the cinematics at the time and it got me hooked on all the potential lore that it hinted at. So with my new hunger, I scoured the web for any scrap of Lore I could find. Unfortunately, most of the lore at the time was in the process of being retconned in someway. I mean they added a whole damn continent from out of the blue. '_Yeah, I'm looking at you Shurima_' With the confusion of all the retcons I decided to just focus on the characters I liked. And since I was a Lux one trick, most of my interest lay with things related to demacia. Whether it be the champions that lived in it or the countries that interacted with it. Noxus was also a focus of mine, though mainly through Katarina and Darius since they were vaguely related to Garen who was Lux's brother, one through a possible romance or hatred, the other because he was practically Noxus' version of Garen.

Unfortunately, my lore knowledge was turned on its head once more when suddenly Demacia the paragon of Justice and Fairness of Runeterra was twisted. Now Demacia while still looking like the traditional good guys of the fantasy genre had an ugly side. They hated mages, went so far as to arrest them if found simply being capable of magic, Man, Woman, or Child, it mattered not if magic was involved you were guilty.

Lux who used to be an agent of Demacia, a person who would sneak into other countries and decypher their magics, a spell thief. Was now relegated to hiding her magical prowess for fear of her countries reprisal.

Although the twist was more interesting than the two-dimensional good guy Demacia used to be, I grew weary of reading my favorite country be the villain. So I focused on other countries and expanded my lore knowledge once more.

But back to my current situation, they were making a show and it was a very exciting prospect. Even after only seeing a single cinematic I had wanted them to make at least a movie, but they exceeded my expectations by going the extra mile and making an animated series. Though I will admit there was a slight hint of disappointment that they didn't make it focus on a different country/character. Piltover and Zaun were interesting and all, but out of all the possible places they were the most boring in my opinion. But then I suppose that might have been the point, as it was the first season they needed something simple to not scare away potential watchers, once they got them hooked they could move onto more complex and adventurous places without fear of making people leave.

My thoughts were interrupted by a frantic, blaring beeping. It was my smoke detector, for the past month it had been randomly going off, something was obviously faulty with the sensor. With a scowl, I got off my bed and hopped up onto the chair I had left under the smoke detector for just that purpose. This time though instead of simply pushing the button to get it to shut up, I decided that enough was enough and pried the cover off of it and removed the battery.

Finally, with the blessed quiet back, I went back to my bed. My mind kept tossing different theories on what the show was going to be about, and even what future seasons were gonna be focusing on. I ended up falling asleep rather quickly with all those thoughts late at night, especially since I had already been tired after a long day at my college.

Perhaps, if I hadn't been so preoccupied with my thoughts I would have smelled the smoke.

/

I was having the strangest most terrifying nightmare. My body was trapped in this weird pulsating darkness, it was warm and moist. I could occasionally hear sounds, but they sounded strangely muffled and distant as if I was wearing headphones with a pillow also pressed over my head. I could make out enough to realize they were voices, but I couldn't hear much more than brief snippets and even then I couldn't hear them clearly enough to understand what they were saying, assuming it wasn't just random gibberish to begin with. But there was a constant beat of what sounded like a drum, it never ceased its endless beating, unlike the other sounds however this one was as clear as day.

If I thought it had been terrifying before, I was wrong. I was so, so, very wrong. The warm darkness was suddenly trying to crush me! It was the only explanation I could come up with when I was suddenly being squeezed from all sides for what felt like hours. Then suddenly after an eternity, the warm darkness was replaced with harsh light and bitter cold. I screamed my head off at the sudden pain and discomfort.

Quickly the bitter cold was replaced with warmth as I was wrapped in something warm, this time though it wasn't pulsating or moist, it was rough and dry, and made it feel like my skin was being rubbed with sandpaper. But for how bad it felt, it was still better than the biting cold of before. The light however did not change. It was like someone turned a camera flash into a flashlight and was holding it an inch in front of my eyes. I kept my eyes firmly shut, small whimpers still escaped me from the pain that penetrated even through my eyelids.

Now somewhat over the shock of all those sensations, my wailing stopped and I realized I could hear voices.

"Oh, she's perfect!" A voice seemingly right above me whispered with a hoarse voice. It was definitely masculine, but the emotions choking his voice made it hard to even guess anything more than that.

_She?_

"Luxanna." A woman's voice this time. Her voice was even more hoarse than the man's, though it seemed more from recent overuse than from overwhelming emotions. "Her name will be Luxana." She repeated herself more firmly.

_Luxanna?_

"So it shall be my love." I heard what sounded like a kiss above me. Then I felt warm, wet, disgusting giant lips press against my forehead. "Welcome to the family Luxanna Crowngaurd."

I screamed in anger, this dream was seriously getting weird and I just wanted to wake up. I had never lucid dreamed before but I had heard of it before, so I knew that whatever I wanted, I should be able to control. And I wanted to wake up with every fiber of my being.

So the question was why wasn't I waking up?

**AN: Yeah Idk why but I REALLY needed to write this. After seeing the Arcane trailer (That's the name of the League of Legends show btw) I really wanted to write a league of legends fic. And just like my justice league story, I realized there are hardly any oc/si stories. Oh and this SI is actually me, I'm gonna write it as if it was me that was reborn into this world. My justice league fic is not me. This one is.**

**And correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that just like my justice league fic, this is the first fic on the site where the MC is reborn as Lux. Actually, I have yet to see a fic in league of legends where an MC is reborn as any of the champions. Please correct me if I'm wrong though and tell me the fic, I would be interested in reading it.**

**I'm pretty sure that my justice league one is also in the same boat, my character is reborn as Kara Zor-El, and to my knowledge that is the only story in the justice league fandom with the MC being reborn as an already existing character in the justice league universe. Again I could be wrong but I can't remember seeing any stories with that premise, its always being reborn as some random OC, never as an already established character. And notice I said reborn (As in growing up from an infant), not put into the adult body of the character.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. REVIEWS AND PM ARE WELCOME, I ENJOY CRITICISM SO PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SPEAK YOUR MIND.**

**ALSO IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS OR ANYTHING PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PM OR REVIEW!**

**/**

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I wasn't really much of a crier, or a whiner, I was normally calm and collected even in emotionally charged situations. I would normally just bottled things up and work it out in the sanctity of my own head. But these last few days were anything but normal.

I didn't understand what was happening, one moment I was at home going to bed after what I thought was an exciting day. The next I was in, what I now realized was a womb, and going through the slightly traumatizing event known as childbirth.

I spent a while hoping it was all just a very long, very detailed nightmare. But eventually, that hope withered into dust, and I moved onto other theories. I was in a coma and all this was just my imagination trying to keep my brain active. I went through more and more outlandish theories, all in the attempt of avoiding what was quickly becoming the most obvious reason. Eventually, I ran out of ideas and was forced to confront the idea that had been looming in my mind since this all started.

I had died. Ignoring the fact that I had been seemingly reincarnated into a fictional world It was the one idea that made the most sense. Somehow the fact that I had died was paradoxically both relieving and heart-wrenching at the same time. Relieving because it meant that this wasn't all just a figment of my imagination, but heart-wrenching because I would never see my loved ones again.

So yeah, I would like to think that considering the situation it was perfectly justified when I spent almost every waking moment of the next few days as a crying, screaming mess. It was a time of uncertainty, fear, and a time of mourning what was lost.

After what I assumed was a week I finally got myself to accept my situation. I was actually a baby and not just any baby. I was Luxana Fucking Crowngaurd of Demacia. I was in a fictional world. A world that _shouldn't _be real, yet here I was sitting in a crib being fussed over by what I assumed was a maid. My vision was still shot to hell but this woman's voice while familiar, wasn't the voice of my new mothers. I was currently doing my best to zone out and ignore the fact that I was currently in the process of getting _my diapers_ changed.

"Garen? What are you doing in here?" The woman sounded surprised.

"Wanna see Lux." The young boy's voice was surprisingly shy and soft, though I suppose it wasn't really fair to compare it to his adult self, especially since he was three years old at the moment.

"Okay, Garen come here." I could hear rustling fabric and felt the bed dip with the addition of the new weight, and there was now a new blurry shape in my sight. "This is your older brother Garen, say hello Luxanna."

Perhaps I couldn't say hello, but I certainly gave it a go anyway. A gurgling squeak was all I could manage, though it seemed that was enough for Garen. I figured that out because suddenly I could make out all the details on his grinning chubby little face, he had shoved his face so close to mine in his excitement that we were practically nose to nose. Apparently, babies were not blind as I had thought, we were just ridiculously nearsighted. Neat.

As thanks for the insight, I tried to pat his cheeks in appreciation. Emphasis on try. All I really managed to do was jerkily brush his chin before my arm fell back to the bed. His joyful laugh made the humiliating attempt worth it though.

I quickly lost track of time as we took turns making each other laugh and smile in some fashion. And for the first time since I had been reborn into this world, I was happy.

_Maybe this wasn't so bad after all._ _I always wanted a younger sibling._

_/_

The first month passed quickly. I would love to claim that it went by so fast because I spent so long thinking about what I would do with my new situation. Unfortunately, it turns out that babies sleep _a lot_, who knew?

I would wake for at most two hours, before falling back to sleep for another few hours. I tried my best after that first week to keep my baby instincts in check. Only crying when it was necessary, hunger or soiled diapers were the only things that I would allow to make me cry. Although I did feel the occasional pang of guilt for crying in the night and forcing someone to wake up and attend to me. But I knew how important the developing years were for a baby, if my body said it needed sustenance then that is what I was gonna give it.

The instincts of this new body were a constant presence in the back of my mind, if I stopped resisting my body would for a lack of a better word go on autopilot and I would become more of a passenger rather than a participant. This was especially helpful when it came time to feed. It was bad enough that I had to suckle my mother's breasts, but since we were a noble family we had wet nurses on payroll to ensure I had enough milk at all times, night or day. Most times it was my mother who fed me, but at night she usually relegated that task to wetnurses so she could sleep, though occasionally she would come herself.

Never in my life did I ever think it was possible to get sick of seeing a pair of tits. Apparently, a month of sucking my own mother's breasts was enough to make me reevaluate that opinion.

The short amount of time that I was awake and wasn't busy with maintenance was occupied by the people around me. Everyone likes playing with babies so it shouldn't have come as a surprise when I found myself never alone with my thoughts for more than a few minutes. Mostly it was Garen as he was just a three year old and as such didn't have any duties to keep him busy. My parents while they genuinely did make an effort to play with me, their time was much more limited.

Mother who was in charge of managing the logistics of the families many estates and properties was constantly swamped with paperwork. If what I've gleaned through eavesdropping was correct, she usually was much better at getting everything done but the recovery time needed after giving birth had created a backlog of paperwork which was still creating problems a month later.

Father was a decorated military officer of some kind, it never came up in any conversations I heard so I wasn't sure what rank exactly. What I did know was that he was gone in the morning and came back late at night sounding and looking exhausted each time. I assumed he was attending meetings for the most part, perhaps also a bit of training thrown in considering how muscular he was.

/

It was the fourth month that something new happened.

Above my crib was a blonde woman in shiny armor with what was possibly the most severe case of 'resting bitch face' I had ever seen. The oversized pauldrons and the familiar facial features clued me in as to her identity.

My Aunt Tianna had come from the capital. The first thing I noticed about her was her piercing stare. I felt like a piece of meat under her gaze. _Seriously? Who stared at babies like this?_ When she looked at me it felt like she was evaluating a prospective soldier instead of you know, looking at a four-month-old baby.

"She looks healthy." Those were the first words I had heard my Aunt speak. To my knowledge, she literally walked through the front door of the house, made her way to my room, and ignored everyone along the way, proceeded to stare at me for an uncomfortable amount of time, then declared me healthy and proceeded to continue staring. My entire family stood behind her, each one expressing a different amount of relief, concern, and confusion.

And I don't blame them, I wasn't sure if her actions were concerning or endearing. On one hand, she apparently wanted to assure herself of my wellbeing as odd it was, at least it showed she cared in her own weird way. On the other hand, she was _still _staring_._

Thankfully before my composure cracked and I started crying, my Mom got her attention off of me. "Tianna, why didn't you say you were coming?... And can you please stop staring at my daughter like that? Your gonna make her cry." The last bit is what got my Aunt's attention, her eyes going slightly wider as if she was just realizing how intensely she had been staring.

She coughed lightly into her fist and turned to face Mom, "Sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable." Her shoulder which had the signature oversized pauldrons of our family slumped as she sighed. "I just never got a chance to see Garen when he was a baby, and I guess I went a little overboard." I sensed a story there as to why she wasn't around, but going off of how sad she sounded I don't think the story was a happy one. Her gaze came back to rest on me, and her eyes were much softer than earlier, they almost looked ...wistful? "May I…?" She gestured towards me uncertainly.

"Of course Tia." My Mother's voice came out softly. "You're her family. Just as she is yours"

Tentatively she came closer to me, and oddly enough the powerful-looking woman looked almost skittish. I could see her throat bob visibly as she swallowed nervously. Slowly her arms reached down and scooped me out of my bed. The awkward way she held me, was made even more awkward by the fact that she was wearing her full armor.

Her face looked so sad and uncertain as she held me, taking pity on her I did what I could to cheer her up. Reaching up I patted her face with my open palms, a gummy smile, and a happy gurgle accompanied the pats. As if by magic her expression melted into one of joy though it was still tinged with a note of sadness, and I could see her eyes beginning to water. She hugged me closer to herself and I did my best not to recoil at being pressed against the cold metal of her breastplate.

"Hello, Luxanna! I'm your Aunt Tianna!" She whispered fiercely down at me, with a smile on her lips.

/

**AN: So? What do you guys think? Did I do a good job this chapter? I'm not really great at writing scenes like this in my opinion. **

**If you guys have any ideas for future chapters or ways to improve existing chapters, or just straight-up critique, please pm or review. I love hearing from y'all. I respond to reviews or PM so feel free to ask questions and stuff. **

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

/

To be quite honest after five months of tasting nothing but human milk, I wasn't sure I could ever enjoy a glass of milk without reliving those traumatic memories.

After five long and arduous months, my mother had finally decided I was old enough to eat actual food instead of surviving purely on milk. And I use the term 'food' loosely, very loosely. It was more of an unidentifiable slurry of...something. Whoever made it, clearly was more worried about nutrition rather than taste as it was god awful.

Wasnt baby food supposed to be bland? I was only swallowing the slop through sheer force of will, my mothers delighted face the only thing stopping me from spewing out the disgusting stuff.

I suppose the food might have actually been in reality very neutral tasting. I mean I hadn't tasted anything except human milk for the past five months, so my taste buds were probably hyper sensitive.

My mood wasn't helped by the fact that my Mom didn't seem inclined to let me strengthen myself between bites. The moment I swallowed one mouthful, I found another wooden spoonful of the vile concoction unceremoniously shoved in my mouth.

I think I had spoiled my parents a bit by being such an agreeable baby. Normally a parent would treat their kid like an active bomb, always trying to avoid setting it off. But seeing as how I was nearly twenty-one years old mentally, I had seen no need to be a brat. Why in the world would I willingly choose not to be a perfect little angel? That decision was starting to show its downsides now however as my mom made me eat every last ounce of that poison.

I think I freaked Garen out a few hours later however when I suddenly started bawling uncontrollably.

In my excitement to eat 'real' food, it had completely slipped my mind that I could have simply let my body go on autopilot for the duration of the feeding.

/

Eleven to fourteen months was the average age when a baby spoke their first words. I remember reading about that when my older cousin was worried about her first kid not speaking. Technically they could start as early as eight months but that was not the norm.

With that knowledge in mind I chose to speak my first word at the ripe old age of ten months. It wasn't so early as to gain too much attention, and it wasn't too late to cause worry,

"Ma, ma!" I called from my crib, well technically it was one of many cribs scattered throughout the large home. Mother was sitting at her desk slogging through the seemingly endless pile of paperwork. According to the clock on the far wall, she had been at it for nearly two hours already, and judging by the way her brows had been furrowed for last thirty minutes or so, I thought she was in desperate need for a pick me up.

It took a few seconds for my voice to register. When it did, the effects were immediate. Her head snapped up so fast I was surprised she didn't give herself whiplash, her shoulders which had begun to slump with the monotony of her task rose back to their rigid posts. She stared at me hard. "L-Lux...Did you just…?" Her voice came out a little unsure, as if she thought she had imagined it.

I swiftly put her doubts to rest, and with a grin on my face. "Ma, Ma!" Before I knew it, I suddenly found myself an uncomfortable distance from the ground and being spun at an unreasonable speed. I screamed in both surprise and genuine fear. Though I don't think the maniac holding me noticed with the way she was laughing, and the fact that I was still being spun.

Just when I thought I was gonna hurl my mom finally stopped. She brought me closer to her grinning face, I could see a spark of mischief in her eyes now. "Pieter is gonna be so mad when I tell him!" She whispered conspiratorially to me in a hushed tone.

I couldn't help the honest laugh that escaped me at her words. Pieter was my dads name, and if I wasn't mistaken, it looked like they had been competing to see who's name I would say first. I had unintentionally secured my Mom weeks worth of bragging rights with just one word. Just imagining my Dads reaction was putting a grin on my face.

/

"Garen!"

"Dad! D-A-D! Come on say it with me now!?"

"GAREN!"

"Dad!"

The brown haired men in my life had been at it for the better part of half an hour. Just repeating their names incessantly in some hope that I would deign to mimic them. I had to hold back a sigh at my predicament, it was one of my own making. At this point, honestly, I hadn't spoken their names out of sheer spite. 'Was I being a bit petty? Yes, yes I was. But I mean really? Who yells in a babies face for a half hour?'

I had briefly considered saying Garens name when I noticed how put out he was getting, but then I remembered how the little brat had ratted me out when I had knocked over a vase a week prior. I may not have been physically capable of giving him stitches, but I damn well was gonna milk his frustration for all it was worth.

"What in Runeterra are you imbeciles doing?" An exasperated voice came from the door. An exasperated voice I recognized.

My Aunt Tianna had just walked into the room, and if I didn't know better I would have sworn she used magic. No other explanation I could think of could explain how the room seemed to drop a few degrees, both Garen and Dad backed away from me as if burned. "Tianna?! What? When did you even arrive in the city?"

"Ten minutes ago, and my question wasn't rhetorical." Her tone was calm and expectant.

"Uhh...well you see..." My dads was definitely flustered by his sister in laws sudden arrival and inquisition.

Garen on the other hand had no such qualms. "Lux said Mom's name, and we want her to say ours." His innocence was adorable, and his bluntness even more so.

Tianna however was either unaffected by his charms or was good at hiding it. She stared at my Dad her expression showing just how unimpressed she found was at that moment. "I can excuse Garen acting so childish, seeing as how he is a child. But I wonder what possible excuse you have for your behavior?"

As much as it brought me joy to watch my Dad squirm, I decided to be merciful and take my aunts cold gaze away from him. "Ti, Ti!" It wasn't quite her name, hell it wasn't even close to it. But it was the closest I could get my baby tongue to manage.

Everyone in the room froze and slowly turned to me with matching expressions of shock. My dad was the first to speak, his voice full of disbelief. "It's a coincidence, this is only the third time you've visited since Lux was born. There is no possible way she-"

"Ti, Ti!" I yelled much louder and insistently, locking eyes with her and stretching my chubby little arms towards her to make sure there was no mistaking my intent.

Both my Brother and Father looked on with looks of betrayal as Tianna scooped me into her arms and began to coo at me.

/

One of the things I had to get used to was taking baths. Or to be more specific, getting bathed.

"Lux, sweetie? Can you keep your eyes closed for me?" Tanya, the servant nominally in charge of my care spoke.

I obliged as she poured the pitcher of hot water over me, enjoying the feeling of the suds getting washed away.

"Thank you Lux, you can open your eyes now." She brushed a finger over my cheek affectionately.

I couldn't help but smile up at her as I opened my eyes. Tanya's loving expression as she gazed down at me in her arms, made my chest feel tight and my body all warm and fuzzy. It was one thing to know your loved, and another to _see_ it.

Tanya's normally fiery red hair took on a darker, almost blood-red hue as it clung to her body. The water-logged locks trailed all the way down her chest, stopping just a few inches above her nipples. The darker hair only served to make her bottle-green eyes even more vibrant.

In another life, the sight before me would have been enough to make my jaw go slack in awe. Now though? Now I felt _nothing._ I could acknowledge that Tanya was an objectively beautiful woman, but that was as far as I could go. When I first noticed the irregularity I had panicked, thinking that the change in gender had somehow changed my orientation. A quick test involving picturing a variety of male celebrities I knew to be considered attractive put my fears to rest. Male or Female, I felt nothing, only the cold acknowledgment of them having visually pleasing features.

I supposed it made a certain kind of sense, after all, I quite literally lacked all the biological requirements for arousal. Until puberty came around to give me a kick in the metaphorical balls, I would just have to get used to being asexual.

It seemed Tanyas didn't like me staring into space as she took the opportunity to ruthlessly dig her fingers into my side. My eyes practically shot out of my skull.

"Tan-Tan! Nooo!" I squealed, my attempts at squirming away from her touch proving to be less than useless.

/

Strangely enough, it wasn't until several months after my first birthday that the truth of my situation truly sank in.

The day had started normally enough. I had woken up in my crib, and as usual, I had to wait until someone finally came to get me. I tended to wake up before anyone else in the household, perhaps the servants woke up before me, but since neither the servant quarters nor the kitchen was anywhere near my room I had no way of knowing. Sometimes I wished I had a normal bed so I didn't have to rely on others, but seeing as how I was still so small and weak I couldn't reliably get in and out of a bed on my own, it was probably best if I used a crib.

Breakfast was a normal affair. Everyone still trying and failing to blink the sleep from their eyes as servants bustled about bringing us our food. I smiled brightly at the person who put my food in front of me. I always made it a point to show my appreciation of their work. Sure they were just doing their jobs, but I remembered working in a Denny's once as a part-time job in high school, so I knew from experience that even the littlest bits of kindness from a customer went a long way. Also, it was a golden rule in my opinion to never fuck with people in charge of the food.

"Lux?" My dad's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I looked at him in curiosity. My mouth full of the sweet sticky bread.

"You excited for today?"

I just stared blankly at him still chewing furiously. Why in the world did I take such a large bite?Finally after what felt like an eternity I managed to swallow the overly large mouthful. "Excited?" I wasn't sure what was so special about today that would make me excited.

"We're going outside today!" Garen practically exploded in the seat next to me.

Huh. Was that today? I could vaguely remember hearing something about this a few weeks ago, but it had slipped my mind. I simply shrugged at my brothers excited expression "I forgot."

"Forgot?!" He looked positively scandalized. "But, were going out to the park! You can't forget!"

"I'm sorry?" I said uncertainly, not really sure how to respond, especially with my supposedly limited vocabulary.

"Okay." And just like that he went back to eating, as if a simple apology was enough. Then again this was Garen, the boy was far too innocent and trusting though he was four years old at the moment so I guess It could be excused.

Soon I found myself walking down the sunlit streets of the city, one hand in each of my parent's hands as I took in the sights and sounds. High Silvermere was a truly beautiful place, unlike anything I had ever seen in my old life. The city was nestled between a large collection of rocky spires and mountains, a series of rivers ran through the mountain range and merged into one mega river which ended as a waterfall. A large portion of the city itself was built on a massive rock spire in the middle of said river right on the edge of the waterfall, with large bridges running across the length of the waterfall connecting it to the shore. Some of the city was even built on the riverbed itself with large thick walls to make the water flow around the city, creating a dry zone for the buildings. To be honest though considering the sheer size of it, it was less of a river and more of a lake that decided it wanted to flow down the mountain. Thanks to the proximity of the waterfall, no matter where you were in the city a gentle shushing sound could be heard by all. The location while very pretty was anything but practical, just imaging how a medieval society had accomplished getting a city built in such an odd location was mind-blowing. Though If I was honest I wondered why they would pick such an inconvenient spot for a city, surely they had better locations available?

We finally arrived at our destination. It was a playground of sorts, I would have said park but honestly it was too small for that. It was more like a small garden with a swing set, a slide hewn from smooth stone, and what appeared to be a jungle gym made of shining steel. The garden was the centerpiece with all the other attractions surrounding it.

Garen had already ran off to play with some kids near the jungle gym, and judging by the way the kids smiled on his approach they already knew each other. I nearly stumbled as my dad pushed me forward. I looked at him questioningly "Go on Lux. Have some fun!" His grin was infectious and I found myself smiling as I went off towards the slides.

Oddly enough I actually enjoyed myself, the simple joy of going down a slide was one I had nearly forgotten since I hadn't done such a thing since I was a child in my last life. It was made all the more exhilarating since the slide seemed massive, at least compared to my one year old body. Though it was fun I quickly found it was losing its luster, there was only so many times one could repeat the same feat before it grew old.

Eventually I found myself standing in front of one of the swings. I knew what I wanted, just not the how. It wasn't designed with one year olds in mind so it was far too high for me to climb into the seat. I let out a panicked scream when someone picked me up from behind and deposited me in the wooden seat of the swing. I spun around in the seat to confront the person who had the audacity to-.

"You ready to go for a ride Lux?" My mother smiled down at me, her eyes shined with her joy.

Now that I knew I wasn't being abducted by some creeper, I felt excitement at the prospect of being pushed on the swing. Gripping the chains on either side of me I nodded happily to her. Once more the simple pleasure of being on a swing was one I had nearly forgotten. And just like the slide previously, my small stature made everything so much more intense. I squealed in both joy and fear as the ground seemingly rushed towards me from such great height.

I was actually starting to get nauseous after being on the swing for so long so I had gotten off and was now exploring the garden. The Jungle gym held no appeal for me considering I couldn't even reach the lowest rungs with my current height. But I didn't mind though, the flora of this world was so much more vibrant compared to my last one. I laughed myself silly months ago when I realized that yes, the grass really was greener on the other side.

The sound of gurgling water caught my attention and I followed it deeper into the garden. My eyes widened at what I saw on the other side of a hedge. A rather large fountain lay at the center of the garden. The entire thing was made of a white stone that almost seemed to glow under the sunlight, the water gathering in its basin reflected the light back up into the fountain creating a dazzling display. I couldn't help but feel the need to approach the beautiful structure, it was covered in intricate swirls that my eyes couldn't seem to figure out where one ended and one began.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" My mom had followed me into the garden, leaving my dad to watch over Garen. "I remember when I was a kid, I would always come here with my father. He would always give me a coin to throw into the water. Do you know why?"

I had an idea, but it wasn't from this life so I shook my head instead.

"It's believed that when you throw a coin into a fountain and make a wish out loud before it hits the bottom, the wish is guaranteed to come true." Her eyes while they looked like they were staring at the fountain, I could tell she was seeing something long past. "Do you want to make a wish Lux?" Her gaze focused back on me, an almost hopeful glimmer in her eyes. "We could continue the tradition?"

I gave an honest smile and nodded. It sounded like a wonderful tradition to continue. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of bronze colored coins, after handing one to me she picked me up and sat me on the basins wide edge, my feet just barely ghosting the surface of the cool water. The white stone felt comfortingly warm after absorbing the sun's morning rays.

We both got ready to throw our coins, after a brief countdown we threw them. "I wish- Aiyeeeee!" I never got to finish my wish though as the warm stone under my thighs suddenly felt scorchingly hot and with a pained shriek, I pitched forward into the water. I had expected the water to be cool as I had felt it not even a moment earlier. Instead the once cool water felt like it was boiling, I gasped in surprise, unintentionally inhaling the seemingly boiling water which made me go into a reflexive coughing fit but since I was underwater it only compounded on my situation. I thrashed around in the superheated water, I couldn't even attempt to swim as my baby muscles could barely handle the weight of my body, let alone my now sopping wet clothes.

It felt like an eternity before a pair of hands gripped my arms and hauled me out of that hell. I clung tightly to my mom, coughing as much of the burning water from my lungs. Large hands pounded my back to help with the process. Even after a minute of continuous coughing I could still feel my lungs and stomach burning from the inside as some of it remained in my system.

"Lux are you okay?" She looked at me with concerned eyes while rubbing my arms comfortingly. Her fingers brushed my tears away soothingly, I leaned into her touch desperately. "it's just water, no need to cry, sweetie."

I recoiled away from her once soothing touch and stared at her like she had grown a second head. Just water? What the fuck was she talking about? That shit WAS NOT water! I glanced down and did a double-take, she apparently had dove into the fountain to get me as I she was currently standing in the knee deep liquid as if it was normal water. For a second I thought perhaps I had just imagined it somehow, but that thought had only lasted a second as even the liquid that clung to my clothes and skin felt hot, though not nearly as hot as when it had been when I was submerged. My eyes were inevitably drawn to the unbelievably white stone that had first caught my attention, and it all clicked into place.

"Mom, I wanna go home. Please?" I just pressed my head into her hair heedless of her response, inhaling the familiar scent and trying desperately to calm my racing thoughts and keep the tears at bay.

Somehow in the monotony of the past year, I had forgotten one simple truth. Like the child I had been pretending to be, I had foolishly ignored one simple all-important truth, as if somehow if I didn't acknowledge it, it magically wouldn't be real.

Luxanna Crowngaurd was a mage. _I_ was a mage. But most importantly, Demacia did not like mages.

What more proof did I need when they put a petricite fountain in a child's playground uncaring of the fact that magic flowed even in the youngest of children.

**AN: Personally I really liked the ending of this chapter. Let me know what you guys think.**

**As a side note I feel I should mention I used Necrit's champion age video as a guide for this story, though since some characters were reworked or added after the videos release, I do also use alternative sources to figure out ages. (He is awesome for League of Legends lore videos, although a lot of his videos are irrelevant now since everything is always getting retconned in some fashion.)**

**(If you want to see what a drawing of High Silvermere looks like then go visit the league of legends universe site, I used the drawing to explain what it looked like. I tried my best to describe it in the story, but it's hard lol)**

**Also in case you don't understand the reason why the water burned her. it's because the water was slowly eroding the petricite, causing small petricite particles to float within the water. Which she inhaled/swallowed. If you don't even know what petricite is look at the glossary below.**

**If y'all have any ideas, comments, or suggestions feel free to pm or review. I love talking with y'all.**

**Glossary:**

**Petricite: Its essentially concrete that uses a magic dampening tree that only grows in demacia as its main component. It's said that the substance physically hurts mages as it literally rips the magic from their bodies with close proximity. Petricite is a common building material of demacia since its naturally very strong, and its magic dampening power makes it practically invulnerable to magical attacks. The wood can also be used in armor and swords, and while it certainly gives it better resistance to magic, it isn't nearly as good as pure petricite.**

**High Silvermere: A CITY IN THE ROCKY HIGHLANDS OF DEMACIA'S NORTH-WEST (Look at the league of legends universe site if you want a picture of it. I tried my best to describe it in the story, but it's hard lol)**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

/

When I had been reborn into this world, I had spent countless hours trying to sense the magic I knew I supposedly had. I mean it was magic. Something that I could only dream of having in my last life. Obviously since I had lived an entire life without it, I would _obviously_ have an easy time detecting and controlling the foreign energy. Perhaps my sensitivity would even allow me to become a super powerful mage.

I had actually been excited at the prospect of having magic. But now? Now that I could finally feel the otherworldly energy coursing through my body?

I just wanted it to go away.

It wasn't the gentle hum, or the comforting warmth I had always imagined it to be. Instead it seemed to boil and buckle under my skin, a blazing heat pulsing from deep within my chest in its own rhythmic beat. Each beat of the ethereal heart sent fresh waves of pain through me. It would begin from deep within my chest and race outward all the way down to the tips of my toes. The only thing I could compare it to was if someone had replaced my blood with hot shards of glass, it burned as well as it cut.

I stared at the ceiling of my dark room sweat beading my brow and my breathing coming in labored gasps, writhing around futilely in some vain hope of getting the pain to lessen. But I knew nothing could help me except time ...hopefully.

It had been like this for nearly a week. One moment I would be fine, then suddenly the searing pain would rip through my body without any warning. The bouts of pain would disappear just as suddenly as they appeared. Luckily though I had noticed that they were happening with less and less frequency, the duration and intensity of the pain was much less than it had been at the start of the week. But perhaps even more luckily, was the fact that no one was around when they struck, it would have lead to questions I couldn't afford to have asked.

This whole thing had begun the night after I fell into that petricite fountain a week prior. My best guess was that the water must have carried particles of the white stone, and since I had swallowed quite a lot of it I must have ingested some. I could only hope the drop in frequency and length meant my body was working it out of my system.

Eventually the pain passed, and I was allowed to slump exhaustedly into my crib. It wasn't long before the sandman took me blessedly away.

/

I stared at my breakfast blankly, I could hardly keep my eyes open. The previous night had been horrible, the pain had come multiple times leaving reprieves just long enough for me to fall asleep and then returning to viciously rip me out of dreamland. Granted the pain at this point wasn't even that bad, hardly even worth mentioning honestly, however it was still just painful enough to keep me awake. Judging by how I felt at that moment I would guess I had, had maybe two hours worth of sleep.

"Are you feeling okay Lux?" Mom's concerned voice cut through my fugue like a knife.

I shot her a smile that I hoped at least looked better than I felt. "Yeah, bad dream." I was for once thankful of the fact that as a one year old I wasn't expected to talk much, it allowed me to lie a lot easier.

"Oh? What were they about? You might feel better if you talked about them you know." Father cut in.

I shrugged non committedly at them. "Fountain." The one word was enough for them, seeing as how it had only been two weeks since the incident it was still fresh in everyone's minds. From the corner of my eye I could see my parents share a worried glance across the table.

"You know, when I was a child I used to have a fear of the dark." He paused, waiting for me to look up at him. "Do you know what I did to get over that fear?" I shook my head. "I locked myself in the basement and doused all the torches. The first hour was terrifying I will admit, but after spending three hours in dark I learned there was nothing to be scared of."

"Okay?" I wasn't really sure what that had to do with my situation.

"I know what happened to you was scary. But I'm sure if you spend sometime in the water you see it's nothing to be scared of."

I stared at him with furrowed brows, it took me a second to piece together what he was getting at. "I'm not-" I almost corrected him, but I stopped at the last second. At the moment they seemed to think I had some fear of water now and that was what caused my 'nightmare', which I supposed was an understandable assumption considering the information they had to go off of. I mentally shrugged and just went with it. I put on a frown and slumped to make the act more believable. "Okay" I agreed, making it seem like I was reluctantly facing my fears.

/

It took a total of three weeks for the attacks to disappear completely, and by the end the pain had hardly been enough to make me wince. I was happy, almost giddy in my excitement. But it wasn't because the pain was gone, well not entirely anyways.

While the petricite poisoning was undoubtedly painful, it had also given me a great boon. One that in my opinion, might have made those weeks of excruciating pain worth it.

I could feel my magic. Before the poisoning I couldn't feel even a hint of it, to the point that I had feared I might not have had the talent. But now? Now that I had felt it literally getting ripped from my body for weeks? If anything it actually seemed harder to _not _feel it.

The foreign energy seemed to pool and collect in my chest and on its own accord the energy would radiate outwards and distribute itself to the rest of my body, though it was always densest nearest to my chest. Every few minutes or so it would for a lack of a better word compress, when it decompressed a few moments later I could tell that there was just a bit more energy than before it moved. Everytime it compressed I had to fight the wave of vertigo that accompanied it. Since the magic permeated my entire body, the compression and decompression gave me a feeling of shrinking and unshrinking. And while obviously I knew no such thing was happening, my body vehemently disagreed.

While I was sure my body would grow accustomed to the sensation eventually, it was still rather frustrating as I was sure it would do a good job of keeping me up well into the nights to come. It seemed I was destined to lose sleep thanks to my magic.

/

"Evil mages! I shall defeat you and keep Demacia pure!" Garen shouted, his ever loyal soldiers charged forth with his battle cry. They pressed ever onward, utterly ignoring the magics raining down on them.

"Defeat me? Impossible! Come forward and meet your doom, Demacians!" I spoke the last word with as much spite and hatred I could muster given the situation. I watched on in shock as Garen boldly charged through my ranks, his armoured form knocking everything out of its path, and watched with even more shock as he ran me through in the same charge.

"…Garen..." My voice came out a strained whisper, my breathing labored.

He leaned closer to hear me.

"What in the name of Runeterra was that!" I shouted with all the strength my three year old lungs could muster directly into his startled face. "My mages shouldn't be knocked aside like that! They should at the very least last a few seconds! They have MAGIC Garen. M-A-G-I-C! You can't just charge straight through them, you would get blasted to ash after your first step."

Garen laughed at my outraged expression. "Yeah but Mages are evil. And everyone knows the Hero always wins." As if to accentuate his point he knocked over the rest of my clay figurines with his metal crusader.

The casual way he brushed me off, added to the fact that his line about mages had hit way too close to home. I grew angry, it grew so fast that I had hardly even registered the way my magic had swelled and flexed from the sudden and ferocious nature of my chaotic emotions. By the time I had realized what was going to happen, it was too late. Far too late.

It burst from my chest in a sudden and brilliant flash of light. One so bright everything in my sight had been washed out by white, as if a dozen camera flashes had gone off in concert. I heard a scream, and when the light faded a few seconds later I could see my brother on his back, his hands clutched at his eyes in pain.

"Garen!" I rushed over to his side, fear and panic thick and nauseating in my stomach. _What had I done? _I could hardly do more than touch his shoulder before the door slammed open, I looked up to see my mother's panicked face.

She practically shoved me out of the way in her haste to check on him, he proved to be unresponsive except for the occasional whimper of pain. Seeing no obvious wounds and realizing Garen couldn't or wouldn't respond she turned to me. "Lux, what happened?"

My mouth opened on its own and words poured out almost on its their own accord. "We were playing with our toys, then Garen started cheating, and-" I hiccuped "-and then I got mad and I lost control of it. Which is weird cause I never los-" I froze as I realized what I had just said aloud. My eyes widened in horror as I saw Mom's posture stiffen.

"You lost control?" She said slowly, her lips pursed. "What was it you lost control of Lux?" Her eyes were searching as they bored into my own.

"I-" My vision grew blurry as I tried to speak, and my throat felt like I had a whole apple stuck in it. "I-I, I'm a-" Tears streamed down my face as I broke down. _How was I supposed to tell her? _I knew she would hate me, that the love I always saw shining in her eyes every time she saw me would assuredly disappear. I had grown to love this woman, to truly see her as my new mother. I couldn't even bring myself to look at her as I cried uncontrollably, instead opting to look down at my clenched and shaking hands.

Suddenly I found myself being pulled towards her. Warm arms encircled me, and a hand brushed through my hair. "Its okay Lux. Everything will be okay" The words that were whispered in my ear made me cry even harder, this time in relief from the crushing weight being removed. I hugged her back, sobbing gratefully into her chest. After a moment she pushed me away her arms keeping me at length. "Now. Go to your room. I will take care of this." Her gaze flickered to Garens groaning form.

I swiftly left the room, my relief at her acceptance and my guilt for what I had done to Garen at war with each other.

This day was one I was sure I would remember for the rest of my life. After all, this was the first time in the two years I had access to it that I had any genuine fear of my magic. The first time I had lost control of it...and I had a sinking feeling that it wouldn't be the last time either.

/

**AN: Yo! I really appreciate all those that have followed and favorited the story. Like REALLY appreciate it. It motivates me to keep writing, so thank you!.**

**Someone PM'd me the other day saying I exaggerated the effects of petricite. But honestly I didn't, the greymark is essentially a badge the size of a deodorant stick made from petricite that mageseekers carry around, according to the lore it causes pain/weakness from proximity, and can bring a mage to their knees from pain with contact. Same thing with the petricite water, in the lore there is a "cure for magic" it's essentially water mixed with petricite powder, it's described as giving the drinker bouts of excruciating pain. **

**If you guys have any comments, questions, ideas, or just want to chat, PM or Review. Hell I even like getting complaints as it lets me know if there is something wrong with the story, after all how can I get better if I don't realize im doing something wrong/bad.**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

/

Pride is like a fine wine.

A little bit every now and then, wasn't a bad thing, in fact it could even be beneficial in small doses, too much however and you would make an ass of yourself.

A sigh escaped through my nose, as I rubbed my temples.

Demacia it seemed, forgot to bring a cup, and just decided to drink the whole damn cask.

It was the only explanation. I thought as I stared at the book in front of me, it was assigned to me by one of my tutors. The book was one on the geography of Demacia, the first two pages made a basic map of the country. It had the major cities and mentioned a few of the more notable villages, but thanks to the size it was forced to exclude the less important villages. That was why I had a much larger and more detailed map spread out on the table.

At first I only grabbed just that book, but upon inspection, I noticed something that I thought to be an error or a mistranslation of some kind. So I searched our family library and found a more recent and up to date map. It didn't help.

"The Great City of Demacia" I read aloud with some disbelief still coloring my voice. That was the name of the capital.

I sighed again.

_What kind of prideful asshole named the city? I mean really? Was he trying to make all Demacians look bad? _I was genuinely unsure what concerned me more. The fact that someone had the audacity to name it that? Or the fact that not only had people gone along with it, but actually managed to say it with a straight face.

Like holy shit. Automatically just by having "The" in the name, it made us look more than a bit conceited. But oh no, they had to go that extra mile and have "Great" thrown in there for that special dash of asshole.

If countries were people, we were Chad.

/

"-Noxus had pushed deeper into our lands than they had ever dared previously-" My tutor's voice droned on for what felt to me like ages. I could hardly keep my eyes open by this point, his monotone voice doing its best to lull me to sleep. To be fair though it wasn't entirely the man's fault.

Ironically the reason I wasn't paying attention wasn't because I didn't find the subject interesting, in fact it was the opposite. I found the subject fascinating and that was the problem. I had read almost all of the assigned history books weeks in advance, to anyone else the thought of sloughing through the thick tomes would be equivalent to torture. But to me? To me it read like a fantasy novel, this world's history was amazing, even its most boring moments were more interesting than Earth's most exciting moments. Every page drew me in, I hung onto every word, committing them to memory as best I could.

"Are you even listening to me?" The exasperated voice of my tutor snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Of course I was!" I forced a smile on my face, and did the best I could to exude an innocent air.

He looked at me with a sceptical glare, obviously not amused. "Really? Then what happened at the Gates of Mourning that gave it their name?"

Truthfully I hadn't been paying him any attention, but I knew the answer anyways. "The Gates of Mourning earned their name after a battle at Demacias southern borders. Noxus sent an invading force through a pass in the Argent Mountains, Demacia wasn't able to mobilize fast enough in their surprise and so the force it sent was hardly enough to hold them back. Seeing this King Jarvan the First went to the front lines himself, in the hopes that the boosted morale would enable them to hold long enough for reinforcements to arrive." I took a breath before continuing in a more somber tone. "Sion the Reviled, charged through our ranks uncaring for anything in the way of his goal. His goal was to bring King Jarvan down. He managed to slay all of the Kings guards, and even fought the King to a standstill before King Jarvan managed to kill Sion. Unfortunately, Sion, with his last breath managed grab the exhausted Kings neck. The grief stricken army held the mountain pass for another day and a night before reinforcements arrived to drive the invaders back. Thus forth the pass was renamed the Gate of Mourning."

The tutor looked at me with surprise, clearly not expecting me to actually be able to answer. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Correct, I never doubted you lady Crowngaurd." He spoke imperiously as if he actually believed his bullshit.

"Clearly." I couldn't help but say dryly. My grin became a tad more genuine as I saw him flinch at my not so subtle call out.

"Well, I believe we have covered all that we needed to today." He spoke quickly as he began to pack up his things. "You will be starting your afternoon lessons soon, so I think it would be best if I let you relax a bit."

I watched in amusement as he scurried out of the library. It wasn't that I disliked him personally, I was just really bored. Though if I was being honest, the way he constantly spoke as if I should be gratefully hanging on to his every word really rubbed me the wrong way.

With the silence of the library returning I was free to think. This last year had been a whirlwind, going by faster than any other year before it. When my fourth name day had finally arrived, my family informed me I would begin my education.

Tutors from all across Demacia, and even some from beyond were brought into our family's service, everyday in the mornings I would spend four hours with the various tutors. Learning geography, arithmetic, etiquette, the varying noble houses and their histories, and everything in between. All things a young Lady of Noble birth was required to learn before they become of age.

Some of it was surprisingly fun such as history, some of it was obnoxiously tedious like learning to write neatly with a quill. As it would turn out, having nearly 20 years of poor handwriting with pens translated to even worse handwriting with quills. Since I was from a highly regarded Noble family, this meant countless hours doing writing exercises under the demanding gaze of my Etiquette instructor. On the plus side, my wrists were probably the strongest wrists on Runeterra, or at least that's what I told myself when my wrists felt like they were going to fall off and I wanted to cuss out the old bat hovering over my shoulder. The fact that she would have simply upped the intensity of our lessons for the use of such 'vulgar and unladylike' words, certainly helped keep my mounting frustration in check. Though if she casually remarked on how my M's looked like a mutated Camel again, I wasn't sure I would be able to hold back, there was only so much abuse one could take after all.

My afternoons however were a completely different affair. I would spend the next few hours outside in the training yard, where I would be put through what was essentially a more intense version of P.E. I wasn't taught how to fight yet as I was too young, so they just worked on my stamina and conditioning. The goal was to ensure I would be fit enough for when I started combat training after my fifth name day. It was tiring, but rewarding work.

A glance at the clock told me I had a little under two hours before I was supposed to be outside. I made my way out of the library and headed to the kitchens for a snack. The chefs were always nice enough to have something set up for me around this time. I needed all the calories I could get for my afternoons.

/

The last two days of every week were the days I was allowed to rest and do whatever I wanted. I usually spent my time in the Gardens admiring the many flowers.

Or at least that's what everyone thought I was doing. In reality, I was practicing my magic. I was sure my Mom at least knew what I did in the Garden as she had made sure that nobody except Crownguards were allowed to step foot in the gardens during the weekends. It wouldn't do for a servant or any of the gardeners to see something they shouldn't.

As I had intentionally been overly kind to everyone in our employ practically since birth. I was reasonably sure I had endeared myself to them enough that they wouldn't rat me out to the Mageseekers even if they knew. But there was no point in taking risks.

With my eyes shut, I focused on the calm thrumming magic under my skin. With a slight nudge I agitated it, it was slow and sluggish at first, like it was waking from a long nap, but eventually, it started moving, faster and faster it went until it was a raging whirlpool under my skin where before it was a placid lake. I could feel its effect immediately as my body grew warmer taking away the bite of the chilly morning air. But the true effect was when I opened my eyes.

I could see the world with much greater clarity, the colors seemed brighter and more vivid. The greatest change however was the motes of softly glowing light I could now see falling from the sky like some strange snow, or slowly falling rain. At first, I had been confused by it, but after some experimentation, I came to the conclusion that I was seeing for a lack of a better term the magic in the sunlight. I could see the same motes of lights coming off of other light sources as well such as candles and torches, though they were much smaller and dimmer than the ones that came from the sun. Even moonlight and starlight generated the slowly falling motes of light, though I noticed they felt noticeably different when they touched my skin.

Where the sunlight felt happy, warm, and welcoming like a hug from a loved one. The night lights while still feeling welcoming, they felt more distant and cool, but somehow still managing to be soothing all the same.

With a smile, I brushed my hands through the falling lights, warmth shooting up my hand at the contact. The passing of my hand seemed to create a sort of turbulence as the motes swirled in the air where my hand had been before calming and falling back to the earth like usual.

I wanted to try something new today. I had noticed an anthill forming in near one of the rose bushes, and it had given me an idea. Holding my hand in a circle over the anthill I concentrated on the motes of light near my hand. With an effort of will, I nudged them so that they began to gather above my hands and stream single file through the gap in my hand. The effects were immediate as I could see the blinding point of concentrated light form over the anthill, and thin trails of smoke begin to take shape.

I grinned at my accomplishment. _Beware Luxanna Crowngaurd, Destroyer of Anthills. _I couldn't help but laugh.

In my state of euphoria, I didn't even so much as cringe at the nails on chalkboard worthy sound that escaped my lips.

/

Apparently, fifth name days were an important affair for Demacians. Some books theorized it's a holdover from our past, when infant mortality rates were much higher, and making it to five years old meant you would likely live to see adulthood. Other books claimed it was a simple cultural thing, something created through superstition that managed to stick in our society.

Personally, I didn't really care what the reason was, I just wanted to know why my mother was in my room holding that pink monstrosity, and why she was looking at me with that predatory gleam in her eyes.

"No." I spoke that one word with as much authority as I could manage.

"Yes." She responded with even greater authority.

We stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then I booked it past her and out of the room. Or at least I tried.

She caught me by the scruff of my shirt and lifted me off the ground. I glared at her. "I. Am. Not. Wearing. That." My glare was scorching, but the fact that I was being held aloft one-handed probably negated its effectiveness.

She sighed, "If I put you down will you promise not to run? We can discuss this rationally."

I had no intention of _discussing_ anything, but I nodded if only so I could have some semblance of my dignity back. Once on the ground, I went to sit on my bed, Mom sat next to me, hanging that _thing _over the back of a chair.

"Why do you want me to wear _that_? What's wrong with my other outfits? I've worn them to events before."

"There's nothing wrong with your other outfits." Seeing my mouth open, she quickly continued "However none of them are up to the standards necessary for your fifth nameday. There are going to be a lot of important people attending and you need to look your best."

I bit my lip, and glared at my hands in contemplation. _Glaring, not pouting, I did not pout. _On one hand, I really didn't want to wear that thing she called a dress, on the other if there truly were important people coming then I did have to measure up to a certain standard.

I looked up to her, ignoring the victorious glimmer in her eyes. "Fine. I will wear it." And just like she had interrupted me earlier, I stopped her before she could speak. "But on one condition. And it's non-negotiable."

"Name it."

"The pinks gotta go."

"But-"

"Non. Negotiable." I cut her off sharply.

She remained quiet in contemplation. But she knew how stubborn I could be if I really wanted something, or how petty I could be if I didn't get it. "Fine." She pouted at me, probably trying to pull at nonexistent heartstrings. "But I really do think it wou-"

"No."

Her pout disappeared, replaced with an easy grin. "We really need to work on your negotiation skills there kiddo. You can't play hardball in every situation." She ruffled my hair fondly, completely ignoring my indignant scowl..

"Perhaps. But in this case, I thought it was worth it." I stared at the puffy _Pink _creature on the back of my chair and had to repress a shudder at the thought of wearing it. Changing the subject before I gave in to my desire to set it alight seemed like the best idea. "You said we were gonna host important guests? Anyone, I should know?"

"A few of the more notable noble houses, the Laurent', Buvelle'." She trailed off in thought. "Oh and the Lightshields."

The last part was said so casually it took me longer than usual to process. When I finally processed her words my gaze snapped to hers in horror.

"You wanted me to meet the royal family for the first time dressed in _that_!?" My screech was probably heard across the entire mansion. Even with all the hours, I had put into training my magic, the light streaming through the window visibly brightened.

/

**AN: I hope y'all liked the chapter. **

**Remember to review or pm me if you have any ideas, comments, complaints, or if you just wanna talk. I love hearing from you guys and it motivates me to write.**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

/

Usually I avoided looking at mirrors to closely. It was surprisingly easy to accept that I was in a different universe, it wasn't even that hard to accept that I was in a new body. But it was an entirely different matter to literally see it with your own eyes. I knew it probably wasn't a healthy thing to do for my mental state, but I figured I would grow out of the discomfort eventually.

Unfortunately, at least for today I had to bite the nonexistent bullet. I couldn't afford such luxuries as my own comfort, not when I was about to meet the royal family in a few hours. If there was one thing I knew applied to both universes, it was that first impressions was everything, it colored every future interaction you had with a person.

Which was why I currently found myself studying my reflection with such intensity. Straightened blonde locks fell half way down to my elbows, framing a pale face still round with the remnants of baby fat. Ocean blue eyes stared back at me. The dress I wore hugged my torso like a corset while the skirt was puffy, of course it was the typical white and blue colors of Demacia, with golden thread forming the Crownguard crest on my wrists.. All in all I thought I looked fine, and objectively speaking, I thought the person in the mirror would have classified as cute, perhaps even adorable. Though I couldn't help but notice something was wrong with my reflection, and surprisingly for once I didn't think it had anything to do with the distinctly feminine features or the pale skin tone.

After a few moments of confusion I realized what it was. As I had studied my reflection my lips had morphed into a tight frown, it pulled my face in all the wrong directions. I cleared my mind and forced myself to smile, and watched in satisfaction as the dimples that formed pulled it all back together. This face was practically designed to smile, to the point that any expression that wasn't one of joy just looked wrong on it. I wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse. On one hand it was an incentive for me to be a more optimistic person, on the other it meant I would always draw attention when I was in anything less than a pleasant mood.

Absently I twirled a strand of golden hair, questioning for the uptenth time why I hadnt just taken a pair of scissors to it already. But as always, I came to the same answer, one I threw into a box and locked away every time it came up.

_I thought it was cute._ The reason I hadn't cut my hair to a more practical length was because I thought it was cute. I hated thinking about it, I wasn't supposed to find things _cute_ about myself damn it! I had spent nearly twenty one years of my life as guy, so I knew I should have been trying to do everything I could to preserve my masculinity where I could. But the mere thought of cutting my hair short made me hesitate. It was the obvious choice, yet I couldn't seem to bring myself to do it.

I shook the thoughts from my head, once more having to wipe the frown on my face away and with one last inspection of myself I left my room. Today I needed to be on my A game, there was no room for such unnecessary thoughts. The mansion was a flurry of activity as servants scurried about, making last minute adjustments for the upcoming event. It was a true sight to behold, almost four full days of near constant activity in one form or another. I wasn't sure how the servants had not simply passed out yet, but it was truly impressive.

This was by no means the first party my family had hosted, but it was definitely the grandest. After all this was to be the first time the Royal family was set to attend. Even Garens fifth name day hadn't been quite as large in scale. The Lightshield' had been too busy in the capital at the time to attend.

It was no secret the Lightshield' and Crownguard' families were very close. A slight against one was the fastest way to gain the ire of the other. But the same was also true the other way around.

So with word of the Royal families attendance spreading like wildfire, Noble families from all across Demacia were coming, if only to have an opportunity to get in the royal families good graces. Even if they never so much as got within a hundred feet of them, just by being noted as attending my name day they still benefited.

Normally I would have made a token appearance before I retreated to my room, but seeing as how I was the main attraction of the event I would actually be expected to mingle.

Knowing I was in for a long day, I made my way to the entrance hall with slumped shoulders and a sigh. I could already hear Moms voice in my head, scolding me for my bad posture. But I needed to save my strength for when the guests came, for with so many eyes on me I would undoubtedly need to keep my posture perfect for the remainder of the night.

/

My dimples hurt. I didn't even know it was possible for dimples to hurt. I had maintained the same smile on my face for so long that I feared it would be stuck that way. Even my neck was beginning to get sore from all the nodding.

Nodding, and smiling. I had never associated those things with pain before, but I was quickly learning I was wrong.

The man in front of me was one of the countless sycophants I had been forced to greet that day. I could tell long before he had even opened his mouth to lavish my supposedly 'young' and 'impressionable' self with empty praise. It was in the way he had approached, his eyes darting about drinking in the wealth and splendor that was the Crownguard ancestral home. The way they lingered on the various nobles loitering about. His eyes did all of that before they even locked onto mine. By the time he had finished saying his name I had already forgotten it. He wasn't worth the effort of remembering it.

Some were there as genuine well wishers, some were not. I think it was obvious whose names I deemed worth remembering. Though I took even the well wishers with a rather large grain of salt, they were politicians afterall, seeming genuine was the name of the game.

After standing their for nearly a half hour I had learned to spot the tells, I had even turned it into a game of sorts. Mentally labeling people as they approached and seeing if I was correct. At first I got a lot wrong, but I learned and after an hour I was on a winning streak.

I had to force myself not to snarl at the man when he kissed my hand. The urge to bare my teeth only grew bigger as the mans lips lingered for longer than was strictly necessary. _I was five Goddamnit! This guy is like six times my age, why the hell is he-_

My outraged thoughts cut off, my anger cooling like hot metal dropped in snow, and my body stiffened in no small amount of fear as I felt my magic beginning to stir at my anger.

With the smile still in place I worked quickly to soothe my rising magic. I couldn't afford even a single spark, not with so many important people watching me like a hawk. After a few tense moments, the inferno of magic building under my skin grudgingly faded back to an ember.

As the man walked past me and into my home, the smile on my face shifted ever so slightly, lips parting barely even a millimeter to expose the barest hint of white. I had changed my mind. Augustas Brighthorn was definitely someone to remember.

After all his was the first name to ever grace my shit list in this life.

/

I knew the royal family was approaching nearly a full minute before they entered my sight. Word of their approach traveled through the other nobles in a wave of murmurs. I stood there in nervous anticipation, waiting for them to arrive.

The king was the first to walk into the entrance hall. He was massive, perhaps six and a half feet tall, he wore a suit that was a deep blue color with silver and gold stitching. His crown glimmered on his head, the gold was inlaid with large gems.

Walking with him was who I could only assume was his son. A young boy, perhaps twelve or thirteen. Even at that age the family resemblance was undeniable. Both shared the same strong noses and square jaws.

Following in their wake I saw three people, instantly I recognized my Aunt Tianna. Flanking her right was a man of what looked to be in my opinion of asian descent. On her left was a man that made me freeze, the bronze half mask he wore and the petricite disk I could see hanging from his belt sent a thrill of fear through me. A mageseeker.

I could only afford a few moments of panic however as the king and his retinue were almost upon me. I swallowed it down and plastered that same damn smile back on my face.

When they got within arms reach, I bowed low in deference. "My King, my prince. It's an honor to have you in our home." I didn't dare even glance up from the floor, still in my bow.

A hearty laugh resounded in front of me, I assumed it was the king "Luxanna! There is no need for such ceremony! Rise! Rise!" His voice was a smooth baritone, I could hear the honest joy and amusement in it. "If anything it is _our_ honor to be here for your name day."

I blinked at his use of my first name. Then I blinked again at his seemingly genuine cheer. My smile blossomed into a much more natural one, as I rose from my bow. "Thank you...my King?" I wasn't entirely sure if he still wanted me to refer to him as that or not considering he told me not to be so formal.

"You can call me Jarvan." He smiled down at me. "Ah but where are my manners." He gestured down to the boy next to him. "This is Jarvan the fourth, my son."

"It's my pleasure to make your acquaintance Luxanna." He leaned over and kissed the back of my hand. While it still irked me to have someone slobbering over my hand, he at least was quick with it, doing it more out of social requirement.

"The pleasure is mine." I returned curtly, and with a bit of fondness towards the young boy. He was polite and seemed genuine in his greeting, already he had established himself above half the people in attendance.

"I should hope your Aunt needs no introduction?" The King chuckled "Especially not with the way she always gushes about her darling niece." I had to resist the urge to laugh at the annoyed look I saw flash across her face as the king winked at me, he knew full well my Aunt didn't _gush_ about anything, he was simply pulling her chain. "Though for the sake of decorum I will anyways, Tianna Crownguard is the Captain of the Dauntless Vanguard. On her left is my Seneschal Xin Zhao. And on her right is her husband Bernard Crownguard, he is the head of the Mageseeker order."

That last bit actually surprised me, I hadn't even known she was married, let alone to the head of the Mageseekers. "It's a pleasure" I nodded my head to the three in greeting. Pausing a moment to stare at Tianna, it was the first time I had seen her in anything other than her armor, she was in a tight white dress with a slit up the side of the skirt for ease of movement, her sword however was still present strapped to her side, she looked so much smaller without her massive pauldrons to cover her now in comparison delicate looking shoulders. She was a practical woman, although her choice of footwear was...debatable, a pair of five inch stiletto heels graced her feet. She may have been dressed for a party, but she was still armed to do her job of protecting the king, though honestly how she was planning on walking, let alone fighting in those heels was beyond me ...though I suppose she could throw them. A quick glance at Xin Zhao showed the same thing, he was dressed to the nines and although he did not carry his spear, he did have a pair of short swords on each hip.

It was admittedly an odd experience to meet someone I had only ever seen in a video game. Garen didn't really count as he was far too young to even really register as the same person. But Xin Zhao on the other hand looked exactly like my memories remembered him. Though with five years of not playing the game my memory was starting to slowly grow fuzzier. If he had been wearing his armor and had his spear I was sure I would have recognized him immediately.

"Have fun at the party." I said with a parting bow and a soft smile. This one was out of genuine respect for the King and his son. They were the kind of people I could imagine one day being loyal to, not out of some sense of honor to the country or throne, but to them as people.

That smile became more stressed as their retinue passed by me. I could feel my magic being dragged to the surface as my uncle in law passed by. I frantically pulled my magic back into my core, compressing it as tightly I could. I held my breath, not sure how long I could keep up the exercise. Doing it in the sanctity of my room or the gardens was an entirely different experience when compared to fighting the pull of a Graymark.

It had only been a few seconds but by the end of it I felt sick and slightly woozy, as if I had held my breath to long. Which I suppose I did in a certain sense. Magic was apart of me, and it wasn't meant to be bound in such a manner.

I stepped out into the cool morning air, taking deep lung fulls of it. I didn't care if people were staring, they could just chalk it up to me having been nervous about my first time meeting the King. The sun's warm golden light shined down on me, soothing and quickening my recovery.

It was while I had my head turned up to the sky relishing in its embrace, that I heard footsteps coming up the stone steps. I looked down to see an entire family approaching. I recognized the family crest embroidered on there clothes as those of the Laurent family.

"Hello Lady Crownguard." Lord Laurent bent over and kissed my hand, and much like Prince Jarvan he was quick about it. "It's an honor to have been invited to your name day celebration." His thick french accent threw me for a loop. I spent a few moments just awkwardly staring at him, completely missing my que to speak. In my defence it was rather jarring to hear an accent that by all rights shouldnt exist, considering France or a french like country didn't even exist in this world.

He must have took my silent staring as me wanting him to continue. "This is my wife Bellamere, my eldest son Bastien, my second eldest Ammard, and my youngest daughter Fiora." He gestured to each as he spoke.

Finally over my initial shock I welcomed the family into my home, as warmly as I could in an attempt to make up for my prior rudeness. I deemed it had been long enough for me to actually be allowed to attend my own damn party, so I sweetened it even further by personally escorting them to the ball room.

/

If I didn't have to put up appearances I would have been slumped over in my chair. Unfortunately I did, so I had to settle with the consolation of being able to rest my aching feet. The chair to my right scraped, and I turned to see Garen sitting next me. I gave him an exhausted smile. "Hey."

"Hey." He sounded and looked just as tired and weary as I felt. Well actually he didn't, he was much better than me at hiding what he really felt. But I knew him well enough to spot the tells.

We sat in silence for a few moments. "If one more person offers their hand to dance, I might actually bite their hand." Garen let out a surprised snort at my sudden statement.

"It wasn't _that _ba-." He paused at the look I was sending him. Daring him to finish that statement. "Okay, sorry." He held his hands in surrender. "It was _that _bad."

I nodded in satisfaction. "Honestly I don't know how you handled it so well. I don't think you had a chance to so much as breathe before the next girl snapped you up." A part of me was surprised, but then he _was _the heir of prestigious Crownguard family. Daughters either out of their own ambitions, or through familial pressure, approached Garen in droves. Marrying into the main branch of the Crownguard family was the closest one could get to marrying into royalty. Hell with our closeness to the royal family it might as well have been the same thing.

He merely shrugged. "I've had to attend parties before." He looked at me more closely, concern shining in his eyes. "This however is your first time. How are you holding up?"

I smiled at him, as a warmth burned in my chest that had nothing to do with my magic. "I'm a bit tired, but i'm fine." It was a little surprising for me to realize, but I was being honest. Perhaps this whole noble lady stick isn't so hard.

And of course. Of course the moment I opened my big mouth a voice spoke behind me. "Would you do me the honor of letting me have this dance?"

Mentally I screamed in frustration. Physically I smiled kindly as I turned to face the speaker. Then I froze as I realized who it was.

Jarvan the Fourth. The Prince of Demacia stood with his hand extended, a patient expression on his face.

Whatever tiredness I had been feeling fled me as I practically shot to my feet. "Of course!" I said a bit too loudly, at least judging by the faintly amused gleam in his eyes.

I was horrible at dancing, but thanks to countless lessons I at least didn't step on his toes. We danced in silence, and if I was being honest I rather enjoyed that. Everyone else who I had dance with that night had talked my ear off, either trying to make themselves seem more important or trying to get me to favor them. It grew rather tedious after the first five dance partners. With his age it didn't feel like I was dealing with some creeper, and with the silence I didn't need to feign interest in whatever they were prattling on about. I could simply move to the music and relax. When we finally finished, I found the smile on my face to be a lot more genuine than before we started.

"Thank you Jarvan. That was by far one of my more enjoyable dances tonight."

"It was no problem. You looked like you could use a pick me up." And before I could even try to deny it, he continued. "I remember what it was like at your age, it can be a bit much. Especially the first time"

I stared at him, my smile turning into a beaming grin. "Thanks Jarvan." I repeated. "Really. I mean it, thank you." Feeling a little adventurous I asked. "Would you like to sit with us for a bit?"

His smile widened a bit. "I would love to."

/

Inviting Jarvan seemed to be the best idea I had had all day. The sheer amount of concentrated political power that was our table seemed to deter everyone looking for a dance. The Crowngaurd sibling? Intimidating but doable. The crown Prince? Very intimidating but worth it. The crown Prince AND the Crownguard siblings together? Not worth the potential backlash. I mean who were you even supposed to ask to dance, or even talk to for that matter? Focus on one and you unintentionally insult the other two. It simply isn't worth the risk.

It seemed the Crownguard and Lightshield Alliance was a shining beacon in the storm that was the Ballroom, as soon we found ourselves harboring all the children who sought asylum from the horrors of politics and dancing.

And before we knew it our table became a safe haven, its defenses bolstered even further by the addition of more nobles. Everyone mingling, talking and laughing like the kids we were supposed to be.

The "Done with Dancing Entente" was truly a force to be reckoned with. With the amount of like minded nobles at our table we had enough political fire power to utterly destroy anyone who annoyed us.

It brought me no pleasure when I caught Augstus' Brighthorn's eyes and I saw him go pale.

Nope.

Not even the smallest of smiles.

Though my lips _might_ have twitched.

/

Most people deposited their gifts in a secure room along the way to the Ballroom, I was too open them after everyone left.

My aunt and her husband however approached our table with a wooden container in hand. The merriment at the table died down at their approach. Everyone was quite as the couple stood next to me.

I smiled at her, even through the discomfort of having to strangle my magic, my smile was genuine. She handed me the small wooden box in her hands.

The genuine smile faded considerably as I felt the pull on my magic intensify. The new feeling wasn't coming from Bernards Graymark, it was from whatever was in the box. I did my best to remain calm.

"Well go on. Open it." Tiannas tone was expectant, eager even. "I know you'll just love it."

My smile grew a lot fainter, and I hoped I didn't look as green as I felt. With slightly shaking fingers I opened the polished box. When I saw what was inside, I felt like I was going to faint.

Laying in a bed of purple velvet was a necklace. A stylized sun the size of a silver dollar with a a massive blue gem at its center, with the spokes spraying out from it. The thing was beautiful, probably worth a fortune.

But it wasn't the beauty that terrified me. The polished white stone the sun was painstakingly carved out of was what made me want to faint.

It was her next words that nearly had my heart stop. "Well? Aren't you gonna put it on?" My aunt smiled down at me, looking so eager to see her favorite niece wear the jewellery she'd had commissioned. But it wasn't her eager face that got me to pick up the necklace. No it was the face to her left, the one with the bronze half mask and cool gaze that got me moving.

It was immediately apparent just by touch that the silver chain the pendant hung by wasn't _just _silver. I was able to deduce that quite easily in fact. The way the metal burned on contact with my skin was what gave the game away.

I couldn't manage the clasp on the back with the way my hands could hardly touch it, and even if I could, I didn't think I could get it around my throat without them realizing something was wrong.

So I settled with handing it to my Aunt and moved my hair out of the way. This way all I had to do was focus on masking the incoming pain. I smiled at all the people watching as my Aunt happily wrapped what felt like a burning rope around my neck. I smiled as what felt like a sun shaped brand was pressed into the skin of my chest. I smiled as my Aunt took in her handiwork with satisfaction. I smiled as they left and conversation resumed at my table, most of it revolving around compliments on how well my new necklace suited me.

I smiled in silence as my magic was ripped out of me.

/

**AN: Did Yall enjoy the chapter? I had fun writing it at least lol. **

**Just as a heads up the story will become more action/fantasy/adventure soonish. It's just that I can't really do that until shes a bit older. But it's definitely coming.**

**For those of you wondering, Tianna is shown to wear five to seven inch Stiletto heels in the Lux comic, they were a very amusing sight especially since they appeared to be made of metal and apart of her armor set. (Though I doubt that's what she wears in an actual battlefield environment. Or at least I hope not lol.)**

**So what's your favorite bit of lore from league of legends? Mine is Darkin in general, it's so sad. All the Darkin are kind of depressing to think about. I mean just the thought of such heroes turning evil is sad, they got corrupted by saving the world from the void. They were the ones that charged into the shit storm that was icathia, and there reward was madness and fear. And in the end, the only thing the people of Runeterra remember is what horrors they committed as Darkin. **

**I really recommend you read "Where Icathia once stood" It's a cannon story on the league of legends site, it from the perspective of an Icathian Soldier just before the vod was opened and you get to see the shit show unfold. Or if you would prefer to listen to it, Necrit is a great league of legends youtuber, and he read the story so you don't have to! (Audiobook basically) Though he has a bit of an accent, you learn to actually like his accent if you listen to him speak long enough. **

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

/

I could by no means stop my magic from being drained, but I did have enough control over it to ensure it didn't emit a visible glow. I accomplished this by maintaining a tight grip on it as it was drawn from me, so rather than fly out of me uncontrollably, it slowly seeped into the pendant.

It was a concentration heavy procedure, and I had, had to maintain it for hours. I was just lucky the necklace was so small, if it had been any bigger the pull on my magic would have been far too great to even accomplish that much.

By the time I finally retired to my room for the night, my head was pounding like a jackhammer. In the sanctity of my own room, I practically ripped the necklace off, in my rush I barely had the presence of mind to remember to unclasp it. I dropped it with a clatter on the nightstand before collapsing bonelessly on the bed. Not even bothering to slip out of my dress or kick off my shoes.

After spending so long concentrating, I was exhausted. Completely and utterly exhausted. Sleep found me quickly.

/

When I awoke the next morning, my headache was still present. The shafts of early morning light streaming into my room through the window was usually a welcome sight, but this particular morning it felt like it was doing its absolute best to give me a lobotomy.

I groaned miserably at the pain before swiftly worming my way under the thick covers, welcoming the blissful darkness. Unfortunately, the warm stuffy air was actually making my headache pound even harder. Seeing no other alternative I removed the blanket shielding my face, feeling instant relief as the much cooler and fresher air in my room hit me

On instinct, my body got up and shuffled its way to the window. I brushed the curtains aside and basked in the light, ignoring how it hurt my eyes. The light soothed my body, and I could feel the stiffness of my joints and muscles receding. Even the persistent pounding in my head began to fade under the light. After a few minutes, the symptoms had completely disappeared. Though it did nothing to get rid of the horrible cottonmouth.

Usually, a pitcher of water was left on the nightstand by a servant, but with how hectic everything was last night, the nightstand was left bare. I needed to go to the kitchen to grab a drink. I looked down at the rumpled dress I was still wearing, before I left the room I needed to change into something else. Mom would undoubtedly be furious if I she found out I slept in the dress.

Unfortunately removing it proved to be a fruitless endeavor. The corset like nature meant I needed to unweave the thread clinching the back shut, I couldn't stretch my small arms back far enough to undo it. So with an annoyed expression I made my way out into the hall, in search of water, and someone to help me out of the dress.

/

Finding a drink had been easy. Finding someone who could help with my dress on the other hand was a different matter.

It seemed that with how hard they had worked this week, my family had seen fit to give all the servants a few days to rest. A few of the more loyal or stubborn of our servants protested the down time, claiming they were happy to keep working, but my parents had put their foot down and made it clear that it was an order rather than a request. I fully supported and agreed with my parents that they both deserved and needed the time off. Unfortunately that meant that me and my family were the only ones in the estate at the moment. Everyone had left to go spend time with family or go enjoy their time off in the city.

I suppose that technically there probably were a few just hanging about in the servant quarters, either sleeping in or relaxing. But I felt awkward even thinking of intruding on their down time for my personal problems. I was sure they wouldn't have minded helping as it would have only taken a few minutes of their time, but I still didn't want to, I knew how important breaks were, and how annoying it can be when something interrupted them.

Left with no choice, I realized I would have to ask one of my family for aid. My father was a definite no since he would probably tell my mom, and my Mom was off the list since she was who I was trying to avoid in the first place. That left only one person.

I knocked on the door gently. No sounds greeted me from the otherside so I opened it and slipped inside. I spotted a sheet covered form on the bed.

"Garen." I whispered "Garen. Wake up." He didnt even twitch at my voice, so I grabbed his shoulder and gently shook him. "Garen! Get up. I need your help." This time he rolled away from me with a tired grumble.

With a sigh I gripped his sheets. "Garen. If you don't get up. I will do it." My threat took a few seconds to sink through his tired mind. But when it finally did I could see him stiffen under the sheets. He was awake, or at least enough to register my words.

But still he didn't move, perhaps thinking it was an empty threat. Unfortunately for him I always tried to live up to my words. With a grin I ripped the sheets off the bed.

He curled up for a second as if he could stop the warmth from leaving if he tried hard enough. When he realized it was futile he sat up and glared at me. Hatred burning in his eyes.

His sleep ruffled hair made the sight less intimidating and more amusing. I snorted at him. My grin widened as I turned up the cheer to the point of being obnoxious. "Good morning brother dearest." I singsonged.

My toxic levels of happiness caused him to recoil visibly. Only for a moment though, as his glare returned even fiercer than before. "Lux." He gritted out. "Why?" That one word carried so much emotion.

"Ah. You see, I need your help." I said a little embarrassed, but I soldiered on. Seeing that he had not outright refused I explained my plight.

He rubbed his hand down his face. "Fine. But you owe me."

I nodded happily "Of course." I beamed at him, channeling all my joy at the prospect of being out of the uncomfortable dress.

"Stop that!" He scowled at me.

"But you look like you could use a pick me up!" I grinned harder as I led him to my room.

"What I _need_ is more sleep." He grumbled.

I merely smiled.

/

With the dress loosened Garen quickly left the room probably to go back to sleep. I slipped out of the fabric, enjoying the feeling of finally having a full range of movement again. The dress was expertly crafted so it wasn't really that uncomfortable all things considered, but I had worn the thing for nearly twenty four hours by that point. And anything not meant for sleep felt horrible after that long.

I simply wandered my room naked for a bit before rummaging through my drawers for something to wear. I eventually decided on a pair of shorts and a loose grey tunic.

As I changed light reflected off of something to my right catching my attention. The rising sun had moved in the sky and its light had reached my nightstand, on its surface something was glimmering.

As I got closer I realized what it was, I had left the necklace there before sleeping. Already I could feel the slight pull on my magic. I furrowed my brow in confusion as I realized the pull on my magic wasn't quite as strong as I had expected. It was hardly even a noticeable difference but it was just enough to be noticed, especially with how sensitive I was to my own magic.

_Was I imagining it?_ I closed my eyes and tried to think back on the previous night. No matter how much I compared the two memories I kept coming to the same conclusion. All the research I had done on the subject said nothing about Petricite being able to lose potency, only that it would darken and crack if enough magic was pumped into it in a short enough time span.

A quick observation of the stone showed an unblemished white surface, so I definitely did not damage the stone last night. Running a few more hypotheses through my head turned up with nothing, or at least nothing I thought was likely. The only one I thought might have been feasible was that the constant exposure to the petricite had given me a slight immunity. But that didn't sound quite right, as if that was correct then the mages of Demacia would have become immune to the substance ages ago.

I didn't have enough data to come to any solid conclusions. The only way at the moment to obtain more data was through tests. Unfortunately, I knew that meant more pain as the tests would probably need me to wear or at least touch the necklace.

With a sigh I began to go over the steps of the scientific method.

_Okay. First I need to ask a question. Then I form a hypothesis…._

/

"Wow!" I tried my best to be mature in the situation, but I was failing horribly. "This is really mine?" I couldn't quite get the awe out of my voice.

After breakfast that morning my parents lead me to the stables. Waiting in the last stall was a horse I hadn't seen before. Its coat was a brilliant white, almost shining in the morning sun. The king apparently had given me a horse from his personal stock.

"How old is he?" I stated curiously, noting it was a bit on the small side, at least compared to the other horses in the stalls we had passed.

"Its two years old." My Dad said as he placed a sugar cube in my hand.

I giggled as the horse ate the sugar from my hand. It was surprisingly gentle. The sweet was enough apparently for it to allow me to gently stroke its face.

"Does he have a name?"

"_She_ does." My mom corrected me. "Her name is Starfire."

_Starfire huh?_ I thought it was a rather fitting name all things considered.

/

For the first week I had planned to try and wear the necklace for the entire seven days. Every day before I went to sleep I would spend an hour trying to form a ball of light in between my hands. The day before I put the necklace on was the control day, it took me exactly twenty three seconds to form a perfect sphere of white light, and I could hold it for sixty four seconds before it started to deform and fade. I would use this as my baseline for comparison throughout the week.

The first day had gone as expected, a killer headache and intense pain. By the time night had come around I couldn't so much as get my magic to reach my shoulders before it was dragged out of my grasp.

Originally I had planned to sleep with the necklace as well, but I put an end to that after lying awake in my bed for half the night. Settling with merely having the necklace on the nightstand where I could still feel the slight pull instead of the pain.

The second day went much like the first except for the fact that it was the start of the week and that meant training. My breath came out in harsh pants as I ran laps around the training yard. My trainers pushed me just as hard as usual, unaware of my experiment. The pain ended up making everything more miserable, and me more irritable. That night I had managed to actually reach my shoulders.

Third and fourth day went much the same way. Each day I managed to get my magic a little closer to my hands. And unless I was imagining it, the pain seemed to be slightly more bearable as well.

It was the fifth day that broke up the monotony.

One of the servants had accidentally bumped into the table in the dining room, somehow managing to move the heavy oak. Normally this would have been a non issue. Normally I didn't have a cup of tea for my headache. Normally I wouldn't have minded getting splashed with a little tea.

But I had been dealing with constant pain for the better part of a week, and I had, had to pretend like everything was fine. Every fake smile, every fake laugh, even saying good morning chipped away at me. Everyone had a breaking point. Apparently a little spilled tea was mine.

I exploded, tearing into the servant with a razor sharp tongue. Hardly even remembering what I had said in my rage, only that it was meant to hurt the man in front of me in anyway possible. I was practically foaming at the mouth by the time I had finished my tirade. I felt better, much better. Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. With closed eyes I took deep heaving breathes relishing in the feeling of lightness.

As I opened my eyes and took in the shocked looks of both family and servants alike. The weight returned even heavier.

Before anyone could so much as open their mouths, I fled the room.

The entire time I was in my room, I constantly glanced at the door. Waiting for it to open and see one of my parents angry faces. No one came.

At first I had been confused. My parents were not the type of parents to let their child get away with what I had done. But as time passed I realized what was probably happening.

Never in all of my five years in this world had I thrown a fit. Practically since I was born, I had strived to be a good child, always kind, always happy, always patient. The perfect child. Not once did they have to discipline me.

The situation was as alien to me as it was for them. They didn't know what they were supposed to do. Probably arguing at that very moment on what course of action they were supposed to take.

I let out a mirthless chuckle at the realization.

Before going to sleep I attempted to form the ball. This whole experiment is what had caused this. So I would be damned if I didn't at least go through with it.

I sat on my bed criss cross applesauce. It was my go to position for focusing on my magic. I don't think there was any real benefit for it other than it helped set the mood. And since magic was all mental, mood was a factor to be considered.

I guided the warm energy from my core and towards my hand. The first time I had tried this with the necklace it had felt like trying to pull magnetic sand off of a very strong magnet. Now, after five days it was more akin to loosley grabbing a handful of sand and trying to run with it, the farther I traveled the more sand inevitably slipped through my loose fingers.

I could move the magic around now, but the farther I moved it the less I had at my disposal. By the time it reached my hands, it was hardly enough to form a spark let alone a ball.

But regardless it was progress. Especially considering when the the week had begun I couldn't barely move it a few inches away from the necklace.

I spent a few more minutes just moving my magic around my body. I fell asleep to the buzzing feeling I always get when I used my magic for long periods.

When I awoke it was to the heat of my necklace pressing against my cheek. I quickly sat up with a surprised yelp. The necklace fell back to its place on my chest. I spent a moment wondering about the fact that I had managed to fall asleep with the necklace in the first place. Now firmly awake I got up and started to stretch.

A knock from the door made me pause mid stretch. "Come in?" I was confused as to why someone would knock so early in the morning, but the confusion faded fast as I remembered the events of yesterday.

I held my breath as Mom slipped into the room, shutting the door behind her. She sat on the bed and motioned for me to sit next to her. We sat in an awkward silence. Neither of us willing to speak first.

I was the one that messed up so I decided to take the burden. "I'm sorry." I spoke quickly so she wouldn't interrupt. "I was stressed and I took it out on him. I know that wasn't right, and I will apologize to him."

Mom just blinked down at me, slowly she nodded. "Okay. So long as you understand it was wrong." My shoulders slumped in relief as my Mom seemed to be willing to let it go. Just as I started to smile she continued. "What was making you stressed?"

At those words I realized why she had let it go so easily, she had smelled juicier prey. "What?" I hoped she couldn't hear the nervousness in my tone.

"You said the reason for your outburst was from stress. So what was stressing you?" She stared at me with her piercing eyes. I knew she would get her answer even if she had to sit there the whole day.

I wrung my hands in front of me, trying to think of something I could say. Something that had nothing to do with my experiment. "Uhhh. I was-"

"Don't lie!" She snapped at me, her face showing actual anger.

I froze, my mouth going dry. I had seen her angry in the past, but never with me. She had never raised her voice at me either. It scared me.

Scared me so badly my mouth started moving without my consent. "For the past week I was doing an experiment with petricite. And-"

"Petricite?" Her anger had retreated, now she just looked puzzled. "What does petricite have-" Her voice fading away as her gaze dropped from my face for the first time since the conversation began. It lingered on my chest for a second as she began putting the pieces together. Slowly she reached a hand out, brushing the white and blue pendant. "This is made of petricite."

It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyways.

"Petricite hurts you."

Once more I nodded.

"Why would you wear it on purpose?" She locked her eyes with mine, her eyes burning with confusion and no small amount of concern.

Seeing the raw emotions, I made the decision to tell her everything. Sparing no detail of my experiment.

By the end of it, she looked more thoughtful rather than concerned. Her intelligent mind working over the information. "I suppose I can't fault you for trying. Even if it isn't an immunity to petricite, you seem to still be gaining better control of your magic. That in itself is worth it, as if you can control it well enough you could hide it better."

I was surprised at her jump in logic, but I suppose she was right. While I had actually been doing this to eliminate a future weakness, she was also correct that it would help me hide my magic as well. Especially if I had to be around mageseekers in the future.

She sighed "I wish you didn't have to suffer like this, I wish I could…." She sighed again leaving it unfinished. I understood the sentiment though, but this was my burden to bear not hers.

I scooted over and hugged her. She may not be able to physically help me. But the fact that she _wanted_ to do anything, was help enough for me. _'Perhaps if I hugged her hard enough she would understand?'_

/

The sixth day blurred by, and in the night I smiled with pride and excitement as I managed to form a nebulous cloud of light.

The seventh day went by much slower as all I could seem to think about was the progress I had been making, and what it meant. By the time night had finally arrived, I could hardly sit still.

The cloud in my hand was much denser than the one from yesterday. But it was still a cloud.

/

Now that the week had passed I could finally take of the necklace. It felt weird not having the constant heat around my neck. The pain had dulled considerably throughout the week to the point that it had been more like a sun baked stone rather than a branding iron. Towards the end I would have almost classified it as comforting in a strange way.

But now that it was over I still had one more thing to check. I knew I could resist the necklace now, the true test was if that applied to all petricite. That was why I currently found myself standing in front of The Fountain. It was the very same one I had fallen into years ago.

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I walked closer to it, ignoring the waves of vertigo it induced. The pull on my magic was magnitudes stronger than anything I had felt before. I wasn't even touching it and I was barely keeping my magic in.

I knew what was going to happen before I touched it. Yet somehow I still found myself surprised when my hand felt like it had touched a lit stove. I jumped back away from it, holding my hand to my chest protectively.

I quickly left the park, my palm still felt like it had been burned even though there was no visible sign of injury. Though the sensation slowly faded as I walked in the sunlight. By the time I got back home it had completely disappeared.

Once in my room I retrieved the necklace from the drawer. Its heat was pitiful compared to the fountain, its pull even more pitiful.

_'What made this piece of petricite so different? Was it the size? The shape? Something else entirely?'_

I didn't know. And I hated not knowing.

I huffed as I clasped it around my neck once more. Looks like I had more experiments to run.

/

AN: Salutations people of the interwebs! I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. And like always pm or review if you ever have any ideas, comments, or complaints. I enjoy reading them and talking with y'all.

/

Also, it came to my attention the other day that you guys might not be as knowledgeable about the current lore (The lore was a confusing retcon filled mess for years, so it's hard to keep track of what's canon and what's not) so with that in mind feel free to ask any questions about the lore you have. And I do mean ANY question, even if it has nothing to do with this fic. I love talking about the Lore of League of legends. And since I've done a lot of research into it I feel rather confident about my lore knowledge.

I understand that the lore is confusing at times so don't be afraid to ask me to clarify something. I will do my best to explain stuff in the story, but somethings are just so ingrained in the lore that I can't really have every little thing explained in detail. If i did every scene would be a history lesson. I will have to have somethings explained through being alluded to or brief mentions, but im not perfect. So don't be afraid to ask for clarification on anything.

My story will include ALL the lore in some capacity. So don't be afraid to ask for clarification, it will make the story a lot more enjoyable if you understand what's happening lol.

On the other hand, if I say something that you believe to be incorrect, please correct me. I'm not a god, and somethings I say may be wrong. Even if your not sure if I'm wrong or not feel free to tell me, and I will do my best to research it and see if I was wrong or not. I don't like having incorrect lore in my stories and I would be happy to have any mistakes rectified.

/

In canon, Lux has a white horse name Starfire. And upon writing this chapter I realized how fitting the name was, i mean she controls light, and she has a necklace shaped like a sun? The coincidences are real here lol. I wasn't even planning it out like that, it just happened.

/

**Glossary:**

**Mageseeker: A person that is tasked with ferreting out and arresting mages. They seek mages in hiding. Get it? Mage Seeker? HAHA funny right? No? Okay well I thought it was (:**

**/**

**Fic recomendation of the week is…**

**DCAU: Justice League Continued by Jupitus Garth**

**Its a great series, but for some reason it hardly has any follows and favorites. Which sucks as he put quite a bit of effort into the series. Its over 200,000 words all together. So please do me the solid of at least looking at his story? If you don't like his work then don't follow it, but if you do like it…**

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**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

/

I hummed a soft tune as I worked. My arms had stopped being sore years ago as the muscles became accustomed to the repetitive motions.

Every day in the mornings I would come and spend some time with my horse. More often than not I would brush her coat while just talking to her. It was important that we established a bond, especially as she was probably going to be my go to mount for years to come.

Also, I _really_ liked horses. Not in a 'they're so pretty' kind of way either. They just seemed so powerful and majestic. People say dogs are man's best friend, but what about horses? They're literally the backbone of most societies. Hell in my last life horses were a unit of measurement for cars.

Starfire was wonderful, she never gave me any problems and was always happy to see me. Though I did notice she wasn't nearly as friendly to the other stable hands. But that was fine, as long as she was fine with me I didn't really mind. I was the only one who took care of her, not only to reinforce our bond, but because I genuinely liked it.

Taking care of Starfire was one of the few things in this life that was completely my choice. The morning study sessions and afternoon training was more done out of obligation rather than choice. Not to say that I was against those things in particular, in fact I found myself enjoying them more often than not. But I couldn't really say no either as both were arranged by my parents, and that distinction made all the difference.

A familiar winnie from Starfire, one that I recognized as the sound she made to greet people, made me turn to look behind me. Garen was entering the stables, he looked around for a moment before his eyes locked onto mine and he made his way over.

"You already took her on a morning ride?" He questioned when he saw I was wearing my riding clothes and was still holding the brush.

"Yeah. I haven't taken her out in a few days, she was getting antsy." I usually took her out of the city every other day or so since there were no open fields in the city.

He shook his head letting out a laugh. "I still don't understand how you can stand waking up so early? I don't think I've seen you sleep in, in years."

I hummed noncommittally leaning on my back foot. "What can I say? I wake with the sun." He didn't know it, but I meant it quite literally. As the years progressed my connection to my magic had strengthened, and I was much more sensitive to it. Unfortunately for me, that heightened sensitivity meant that I was the first to know when the sun was rising. At first, I got around the quirk by simply drawing particularly thick curtains over the windows of my room, that worked for about a few months. Eventually, though I was able to feel the sun's presence even through the thick stone walls of my room.

While it sucked that I couldn't enjoy the simple pleasures of sleeping into the afternoon, waking up at the literal crack of dawn did have its upsides. I literally had more hours in my days, which I used to further my studies, meditate on my magic, and care for my horse. It was also kind of nice to have my mornings be so peaceful and tranquil, with everyone asleep it was like I was the only one in the world. Well besides the occasional servants of course, how they managed to wake up earlier than me and be so lively without the sun bolstering them was beyond me. It was pretty humbling actually.

"Honestly your optimism in the morning is a little sickening. It's unnatural." He shuddered theatrically.

I drew myself up haughtily. "Go on and make you jokes!. But your gonna need to learn how to channel my funshine when you go off to the military."

"Funshine? Really?" He quirked a brow in disbelief.

I threw a handful of hay at him. "Not the point!" I huffed. "Your going off to the military in less than a year, if you can't handle waking up a little early your not gonna go far."

"I know, I know." He held his hands up defensively. "But doing it out of duty, and actually _wanting _to do it are two different things Lux."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to wake up early Garen." I stamped my foot petulantly.

"If you say so." His tone holding a teasing edge. This time he was ready, spinning to dodge the handful of hay.

"I do." Crossing my arms I said. "Now, was there a reason you were looking for me?"

"Who says I was looking for you?" He walked past me, and began to pat Starfires flank. "Maybe I was just here to see my favorite horse?"

I snorted in amusement. "Favorite horse? In what world?" Almost on cue Starfire turned to lazily gnaw on Garen hair. For some reason I couldn't explain Starfire was rather passive-aggressive with Garen. She was fine with literally anyone else, but she seemed to have a bone to pick with my brother.

My brother to his credit didn't even flinch as the horse slobbered all over his head. He took his impromptu grooming session like a champ. By the end of it his hair stood up at crazy angles, damp with horse spit.

"See? Favorite horse." He said this with a completely straight face, upping the ante by reaching up and patting Starfire's face affectionately.

My lips started to tremble, I did my best to suppress it but the pressure in my chest became too much, and the laughter exploded out of me. "HAHAHAHAH!" I was brought to my knees, my frame shaking with the force of my laughter. Tears streamed down my face. Everytime I managed to calm down I would catch sight of Garen's hair and the laughter would begin anew.

I clutched my aching sides. The wide grin on my brother's face caused me to scowl. "You did that on purpose." I said accusingly.

"I've no idea what your talking about." He tried to sound innocent, but the grin I had seen him sporting earlier gave the game away.

"You _know _how I feel about my laugh Garen."

His sighed, dropping all pretenses of obliviousness. "Lux. While you have an...interesting laugh-"

I snorted in derision. '_Interesting' well that's one word for it._

"-It's still _your _laugh. You don't need to feel ashamed of it Lux. Its apart of you, and you need to learn to accept that." His tone becoming more serious, bordering on stern.

I glared at him, I wanted to be angry at him. I really did. But I knew he was just trying to help me. My glare softened as his words sank in. "I know Garen." I sighed as my shoulders drooped. "But that's one of the things that's easier said than done."

I don't know if it was a quirk of reincarnation, or perhaps simple genetics, but when I laughed, and I mean _actually_ laughed. The sound that came out wasn't the sound I made in my last life, no. Instead it was the ear grating, shrieking giggle from the game. It bothered me greatly, so I almost never truly let myself laugh if I could help it.

"Perhaps." He shrugged. "But it's still something worth doing."

"You came here for a reason. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't to talk about my laugh." I didn't want to linger on this topic any longer.

"Fine. Fine. Mom wanted me to tell you that Lestara Buvelle and her daughter arrived in the city. She offered to host them during their stay here."

"Daughter?" I blinked in confusion. "I wasn't aware she had a child."

"Apparently she just came back from a trip to Ionia. And while she was there she adopted a girl." He shrugged. "I didn't know either until this morning."

"Huh. Well okay, I guess. After I finish up here I'll go get changed." I turned to put everything away.

/

"Thank you for hosting us Lady Crownguard." The woman known as Lestara Buvelle bowed to us in gratitude.

"It's no problem, we certainly have the room, besides its always nice to have company." My mother smiled. "Also when I heard rumors of you adopting someone into your family, I simply had to see for myself."

"Ah." She nodded in understanding. "I suppose that makes sense. It must have come as quite a shock to everyone." She moved aside and gestured for the young teen behind her to step forward. "This is Sona. Sona this is Augatha Crownguard." The girl smiled shyly and gave a curtsy in greeting.

Mom did much the same with us. But I paid it no mind, as my attention was purely on the girl in front of me. Her distinctly sky blue hair had drawn my attention even before she was introduced, it had niggled at me, but I couldn't place why. When I heard her name it all clicked. The reason I hadn't realized who she was, was because her hair had been cut short barely even reaching her chin at their longest length. On top of that she was missing her distinctive blue dress, instead wearing a simple red dress with yellow highlights. It also didn't help that the girl in front of me couldn't have been older than ten.

"Well now that introductions are out of the way, how about we retire to my study? I'm sure you must be tired after your long journey." She looked towards us. "Lux, Garen, why don't you show Sona around?"

Lestara hesitated a moment. "Sona was born with the inability to speak." Sona suddenly looked embarrassed her gaze dropping not meeting our curious stares.

Garen only hesitated a moment before quickly assuaging any of their worries. "That won't be a problem. She can use a notepad, or sign language if she wants. We're both fluent in Valorant standard." He smiled at Sona warmly.

Sona had a very expressive face I noticed. Her eyes practically glowed when she returned Garen's smile. The glow dimmed as she looked at me, her face turning back to shy hesitance.

My eyes widened as I realized I had just been staring at her. Cursing myself for my stupidity. I smiled at her, trying to put her at ease. "With us as your guides, I promise there won't be a dull moment! We'll show you all the best spots in the city before you leave!" My shoulders loosened when she smiled back.

In my shock at meeting Sona, I had nearly given her the wrong impression with my silence.

/

"-and this is the temple of The Protector." We stood at the highest point of High Silvermere and in front of us was a circular building made of white stone, standing in the center of the stairs was a massive stone statue, its wings were flecked with gold which glinted magnificently in the afternoon light. "The temple was the first structure to be built on this rock. It was done so that The Protector could watch over the city as it was built."

Sona looked up in awe of the massive statue. I paid close attention to her facial expression during my explanation as we approached the statue. She wasn't from Demacia, so it stood to reason she probably wasn't acclimated to the effects of petricite.

I knew from experience that the statue was made of pure petricite. I hadn't been sure if she herself had magic, or if it was her instrument that was magical. So I had ensured that we stopped by the temple on our tour. I felt a little bad for being so manipulative, but I was curious. I had noted that she had glanced at my necklace once or twice, but it's pull was slight enough that it was easily ignorable, so I wasn't sure if she felt it or was just admiring the necklace. Despite my curiosity I wasn't quite willing to see how she reacted to touching it.

_There it is. _I saw the exact moment Sona felt the pull. Her face scrunched up ever so slightly. "But I doubt you would be all that interested in seeing some temple. I really just brought you here for the view." I took the lead and led her back down the steps and to a viewing platform well out of the statues range of influence. If she hadn't shown any discomfort then I would have shown her the inside of the temple as it actually was a rather impressive structure. But with the confirmation that she was indeed a mage, I didn't think she could handle or would appreciate being around that much petricite.

Sona silently gasped, her eyes widened in awe as she took in the view. She turned to us with a wide smile. "Its beautiful!" Her hands frantically signed.

Garen smiled at my side. "It really is." He agreed as we all just watched the city spread out beneath us. The oncoming river splitting around the city, shunted to the sides by thick angled stone walls.

I stayed silent, just taking in the city below. No matter how many times I saw it, it always took my breath away. My home really was something to behold. Even the slight pull I could feel from the temple behind me couldn't dampen my smile.

/

After staying for nearly a week the Buvelles had left a few days ago. During their stay, me and Garen had befriended Sona. We all promised to write to each other. She had even played her Etwahl at dinner for us a few times. The music she could create with the instrument was truly special. Even the mere memory of its sounds seemed to put a smile on my face.

Starfire neighed impatiently beneath me. "Sorry girl. I was lost in thought there. Let's head back." We were nearly an hour ride from the city and the sun was already beginning to set. I pushed her into a gallop so we would make it before night fell and the temperature plummeted. The first snowfall had happened yesterday painting everything a cold white.

Perhaps thirty minutes into the ride it happened. Without any warning whatsoever Starfire did something she had never done before.

She tripped.

Suddenly I was airborne. My mind not quite comprehending what was happening even as the snow-covered ground rushed up to meet me. Somehow, through some miracle, I had tumbled through the air in such a way that I ended up hitting the ground legs first instead of headfirst. Pain exploded through my left leg as I felt something give and snap. My momentum caused me to slide across the frozen ground a dozen feet, my body digging a furrow through the thin snow.

I stared up at the nearly purple sky in a daze, the taste of blood in my mouth. I could only hope it was from my tongue which I had nearly bitten through, and not from internal injuries. A quick assessment told me the only thing that was truly hurt in the crash was my left leg. I couldn't tell how bad the injury was without taking an actual look so taking a deep breath to brace myself I dragged myself into a sitting position, grunting as it moved my leg.

The sight wasn't as bad as I expected, the leg wasn't bent at an unnatural angle and I couldn't see any bone, so the break couldn't have been too bad. But trying to move it caused my vision to go white at the edges. Me and Garen had, had instruction on basic first aid so I was able to tell with a closer inspection that it was probably a crack or a fracture rather than an actual break.

Once that was done, I crawled towards the fallen form of my horse. "Starfire!" For a moment I thought she had died in the fall, but a pained winnie reassured me she still lived. The horse moved to stand, but she immediately keened in pain and fell back down. Something was clearly injured.

I gently rubbed her head, her pained eyes looking up at me in fear and confusion. The horse had never felt such pain, I wasn't sure if she even knew what was happening. To my knowledge she had never been injured before. "Its okay girl. You'll be fine" I tried to soothe the horse. After a few moments, I tried to get her to stand, only for her to fall back down.

This time I had been watching closely and saw it was her front right leg that had buckled. A test prod caused her to whine confirming the limb was indeed injured. I couldn't tell what kind of injury she had sustained but it was enough to immobilize her.

I bit my lip in thought, with her unable to move I would have to go back to the city myself, but we were still a few miles away, and with my leg the way it was I would never make it. I came to the realization that the only thing we could do was wait it out till morning. My parents would undoubtedly send out search parties for me once they realized I was missing.

With nothing left to do but wait I just laid on the cold ground cuddled up to Starfire' warm body. Somehow despite the situation I managed to fall asleep. Starfire' powerful heartbeat lulling me to sleep.

I awoke to startled whining. The panicked sound made me shoot to my feet, despite the pain shooting through my leg. It took me a second, but after a few moments I realized what had frightened her. Just in the treeline, I could see reflective eyes watching us, the white snow made it easy to see the dark outlines of the multiple animals.

I quickly pumped magic into my eyes bolstering my eyesight, the once dark shapes now starkly illuminated by the moonlight. _Shit. _I swore as I realized exactly what I was staring at.

A pack of Sabrewulfs stood in the treeline, watching us in silence. Taking in our injured forms with hunger.

I swallowed thickly. Sabrewolves were pretty much like normal wolves except they were nearly twice as large. With only a dagger at my hip and an injured leg I knew there was no way I could physically fight them.

I grabbed my magic and used it to gather the silver light of the moon. A ball of silver brilliance formed above my open palm. The sudden bright light caused the wolves to recoil in fright, but only for a moment as what must have been the alpha barked sharply causing all the frightened wolves to hold their ground.

After a moment the wolves moving as one stepped forward and began to spread out, no doubt to surround us. I spun in a circle trying to keep them all in sight, but it was quickly proving to be a futile effort. My rising fear caused the light in my hands to flicker.

Seeing a moment of weakness a wolf in front of me lunged forward. I screamed and held my hands out towards it. The ball of light blurred forward. It struck the wolf midair and exploded in a brilliant silver flash launching it back, it rolled for a few moments before catching itself. Its fur looked slightly singed but otherwise it looked unharmed. If I had warm sunlight to work with instead of the ever cool moonlight I knew it would have been a different story.

Seeing how ineffective it had been I changed tactics. Instead of gathering more moonlight, I allowed my magic to rise to the surface. Iridescent energy swirled around my hands freely like glowing mist. This time when I heard one of the wolves behind me move I spun around and blasted it with all my power.

I had never felt such a heady feeling before. As the power surged out of me, I felt whole, complete. Not once had I ever dared use so much magic at once. For once in my life I wasn't holding the leash on my magic. For once in my life I was letting it do what it wanted. To my senses it seemingly sang in joy as it rushed out into the world as a continuous beam of iridescent light.

I slowly spun in place raking the beam across the wolves, the ones I struck directly caught fire instantly, their yowls of pain as they tried to extinguish themselves by rolling in the snow actually causing my grin to widen. A laugh bubbled forth. _I felt amazing. _I giggled maniacally as I continued to lay waste to the panicking wolves. So drunk on power was I that I didn't even notice as the largest wolf made a desperate lunge at me from behind.

I did however notice when its jaw clamped down on my shoulder. I screamed in surprise then pain, as it shook its head back and forth trying to tear into me. I fell onto my stomach the added weight of the wolf too much for my injured leg. The beam sputtered and then winked out. With an angry roar I reached back and placed my hand on its face, my still glowing hand causing its flesh to sizzle on contact. Unfortunately the pain caused the wolf to bite down with even greater force.

My magic responded to my pain, and with one big burst of power the wolf was flung off my shoulder, a charred stump where its head used to be.

The sudden death of the wolf which I dazedly realized must have been the alpha caused the other wolves to finally break ranks and run. I sat back up leaning my back against my still panicked horse and waited in silence, waiting to see if they were going to return. I drew my knife as that last burst had used all my remaining magic. Without my magic to warm me it wasn't long before the cold set in.

That was how my Brother and Father found me the next morning. Huddled against the downed form of my horse. Surrounded by the charred corpses of Sabrewolves.

I looked up at them with chattering teeth. "H-hey g-g-guys." My arms were wrapped tightly around my violently shivering form protectively. I tried to smile, but I wasn't really sure if I managed it or not, my face had become numb hours ago.

**AN: Hello! I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Remember if you have any questions, comments, or ideas, feel free to PM or Review. I love talking with y'all. **

**Current ages of the characters in this chapter.**

**Lux: 8**

**Garen: 11**

**Sona: 10**

**Just in case no one realized it, The Protector is Kayle. Demacians actually pray to her as she is a goddess of Justice to them. Morgana is prayed to as well but she isn't as well known as her sister almost to the point of being forgotten entirely by the people. Morgana is known as The Veiled Lady. **

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Yo! Sorry about that I had decided to rewrite this chapter and it took way more time/effort than I had originally planned…..long story short this chapter is literally half the length of the entire fic.**

**Chapter 1-8: 24,814 words**

**Original chapter 9: 3,291 words**

**New Chapter 9: 13,544 words**

…**..yeah…..It got a little out of control huh?**

**Ummmm…..hope you like it? **

/

**Chapter 9**

/

I stared at the water blankly, my eyes open but unseeing. The events from the previous night playing on a loop in my mind's eye.

…_.snapping teeth...piercing howls_

Slowly I brought my hands up to the surface of the water, watching as it rippled as the appendages breached the surface. They had a barely decipherable tremor to them. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get them to stop shaking.

…_.cold air…. Pain….._

It wasn't fear that made my limbs shake. I knew it with certainty. It was something that thankfully, I had never personally experienced in my last life, but I had seen others go through it.

…_.Light….Pleasure...Joy… _

Withdrawal. I knew the symptoms well. I had helped my cousin through it, when he wanted to stop shooting up. So I knew the symptoms intimately.

I clenched my teeth and dunked my head beneath the water. Watching as bubbles streamed out of my mouth as I screamed. The sound was muffled to my submerged ears.

When I finally went up for air, my lungs had long since been emptied, but the burning in my chest did nothing to distract me from the _desire _that burned through my entire being_._

I wanted to _use_ my magic, I wanted that rush I got when I finally stopped holding back. To make matters worse, it felt like my magic was urging me on as well.

No. I didn't _want_ to use it. I _needed _to use it.

I bit my lip pensively. _Maybe if I just used a little? Just a small itsy bitsy amount? That wouldn't be too bad, would it? _I nodded to myself, my magic seemingly nodding with me, reassuring me that I was making the right choice. _Yeah, just a little light won't hurt anything._ I eased up on the chokehold I had on my magic, only loosening it a fraction. _Just enough for…_

I jumped in surprise when what felt like every ounce of my magic slammed into the tiny crack, trying to force its way out. Blood ran freely down my chin from biting through my lip. It dripped into the clear water, turning it a slight pink.

I was scared. My magic had acted on its own, it had _never _done that before. It was always apart of me, and even when I lost control of it, I still felt some semblance of a connection, some feeling that despite everything it was still mine. This time however my magic had almost felt like a foreign entity. Like the sabrewolves from last night it had pounced in my moment of weakness. Panicked tears threatened to obscure my vision.

The thing that scared me the most however was what I remembered feeling. It sickened me to even admit it to myself but when I had been hurting and killing those wolves I had felt...good. And that bothered me the most. I knew it was perfectly normal to feel some primal satisfaction with overcoming a threat to your life. But what I had felt last night went beyond that. I hadn't simply felt satisfaction, I had felt happy, joyous, ecstatic even. In my last life I was never really a violent person, not to say I wouldn't throw a punch if it came down to it, but I never liked the idea of hurting things, physically or mentally.

Now, looking back on it I felt sickened at the memory. But at the time? When I felt all that delicious power rushing through my veins? I revelled in the pain I had caused. In those few heart racing moments I didn't care what I did, so long as I could keep the feeling going, anything was fair game. And no matter how much it made me want to puke, my body still wanted. No, it _craved _the feeling.

I knew with every fiber of my being that if I gave in now, I wouldn't be able to stop. That everything I was would be swept away by the intoxicating rush. And at this rate, I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold out. I was at my ropes end and it had hardly been an hour since I had returned to the city.

Something dark, and terrible had awoken in me last night. And I wasn't sure how long I could keep it locked away.

A knock at the door caught my attention.

"Lux? Are you okay? Do you need any help in there?" Mom's voice sounded worried.

The genuine emotion made me pause. "Yeah." I still tasted blood from my split lip. "Yeah. I'm uhh" I swallowed the lump in my throat "I'm…" my words came out a little stilted, but I managed to power through. "...I'm fine, I'll be out in a minute Mom." I wouldn't let this beat me, I _couldn't _let it win. Not when I had people that still cared about me.

"Okay...if your sure?"

"Yeah...yeah, i'm sure." I closed my eyes and let my head slump back against the bathtubs wall, slipping a few inches deeper into the water. With one large exhale I climbed out of the long since cooled water.

/

All eyes were on me as I hobbled into the dining room. The crutches felt awkward, and the splint itched. But I ignored both as I made my way to my seat.

One of the servants rushed to my side to help me get into the chair. I smiled and thanked him, but even to my own ears it sounded off and the angle of the pull on my cheeks felt even more askew. If anyone noticed, they didn't say anything. The food was brought out and we started eating.

The food tasted like ash, and while it filled my stomach, it could do nothing to sate what my body truly hungered for. My skin was progressively feeling more clammy as time went on. I could feel everyone's stares. With a sigh I pushed the plate away, it wasn't like I was enjoying it anyways. Finally looking up I addressed the elephant in the room.

"I'm fine." I stated as I locked eyes with everyone, almost daring them to contradict me. A slight rattle broke the silence, and everyone, including me, looked at the source. I had a fork clenched in my hand, its prongs bounced on the edge of the plate, my shaking hands unable to hold it steady.

"...Lux?" Garen, bless his soul was too young to grasp what was happening. But the oddity was enough for him to express concern. A quick glance to my parents showed that unlike my brother, they understood something was wrong.

"I'm fine!" I snapped, immediately wincing at my tone. "Sorry. I just..." I looked down at the table taking a deep calming breath. "I'm tired. That's all. I just need some rest and i'll be right as rain." I stared at my parents, silently begging them not to push the issue, at least not now.

Slowly, they nodded their heads. But their pursed expressions made it clear they weren't happy with it. That was fine though, I just needed some time. "Okay, sweetie. Do you need help getting to your room?" Dad was already pushing out of his chair as he spoke.

"No. I'll be fine." _Fine, I seemed to be using that word a lot today. _I thought bitterly, I was everything _but _fine.

With that said I slowly hobbled my way to my room. I needed peace and quiet. I needed to think.

/

I sat on my bed wrestling with my magic for over an hour when it hit me. I shot out of my bed and scrambled towards my desk, awkwardly hopping to avoid putting pressure on my leg. When they had brought me back they had removed all my things, they said they put it on my desk. And sure enough all my personal possessions had been neatly folded and stacked.

What I was looking for was sitting right on top of the pile. With only a moment's hesitation, I grabbed the necklace, groaning in satisfaction as I felt instant relief. The constant pressure of my magic fading slowly as the petricite necklace slowly drained it. After three years of being in my possession I had grown so resistant to the pendant that Its pull was unnoticeable unless I focused on it. At the moment however with my magic so eager to get out, it only took that slight pull to get it to flow into the necklace. Though I did still have to concentrate to ensure it did not flood into it. Such a large quantity of magic would surely shatter the small bit of petricite.

Now with it clasped around my neck once more I moved to my closet. A few moments of rummaging later and I held a heavy wooden box. The lock was a big blocky thing, I didn't want its contents to ever be seen.

Once open I stared at the collection of rectangular stones sitting at the bottom. The stones were a myriad of different sizes, the smallest of them was the size of my pinky nail, the largest was about the size of a brick. Each stone a different shade of gray or white. A thick leather bound book lay underneath the pile of rocks.

The distinctive colors were already a giveaway, but the strong pull on my magic told me exactly what this was. Petricite. Over the years I had asked my mom to procure samples for me to experiment with, each stone a different size and contained differing ratios of the petricite wood. The book held my notes on all my experiments to date.

When demacians made the stonelike material they used differing ratios of materials, based on what its task was for. The white version was most commonly used in construction as it was the most structurally sound. Its darker variant however had a much higher concentration of Petricite wood, this greatly improved its magic dampening potential, but at the sacrifice of durability. The darker stone was almost brittle, so it was only ever used in Graymarks as its only use was to absorb magic.

With that knowledge in mind, I quickly found the biggest darkest stone in the bunch, and picked it up. This stone burned at the touch, but even still I hugged it tightly to my chest. Letting my magic flood into it. The sheer bliss of not having to fight my magic anymore almost overpowering the burning in my veins.

_CRACK!_

The sudden sound was the only warning I got before the stone exploded in my arms. Shards of stone shot everywhere, thankfully all of it was directed away from me, so the only injury I received was a few nicks along my arms. With the stone gone I suddenly found myself in a situation I had been dreading. My magic had been pouring out of me, so with the petricite suddenly absent it had nowhere to go but out into the world. I wasn't able to shut the valve in time to stop some of it from escaping.

Acting quickly I somehow manage to snatch the volatile energy out of the air before it could travel more than a foot. I had it clenched tightly in my fist, it strained to break out of the literal grip I had on it. In any other situation it would have been a rather simple matter for me to absorb the magic back into myself, but with my concentration already occupied with keeping the magic in my body from getting loose. I had no energy to spare for the task.

To make matters worse I could feel more magic slipping through the cracks and adding itself to the amount I held in my hand. The light shining through the gaps in my fingers was steadily getting brighter, and my grip getting looser.

I looked around the room frantically, my mind filled with panic. My eyes glanced downward and widened in realization. I grabbed another of the dark stones and pressed the magic in my hand into it. This time however I was ready for when it cracked and reigned in my magic in time to drop the stone before it exploded. I repeated the process with the other stones, each one paler than the last and absorbing less magic before they cracked.

By the time my reservoir was finally empty I had only three stones left, where before I had over a dozen. Even then the ones I had left were the smallest and palest of the bunch and wouldn't even be worth using to drain myself.

I glanced around myself at the blackened and cracked stones. They still could function as petricite, but I would need to wait a while. From my experiments I knew it would take a few days for them to "cool down" so to speak. If I tried to use them before then the best case would be that they just crumbled apart, the worst case would be they exploded like the first stone. Though if I had access to more petricite I could use them to speed up the process of the other stones as the fresh stones would absorb the magic in the overcharged stones. That same phenomenon was why large structures of petricite could take terrifying amounts of magical punishment without so much as a chip, it distributed the load evenly across the entire construct.

_Speaking of explosions… _I began to search my room for the almost pitch black shards of stone. These fragments would remain inert for weeks, but eventually they would regain both its grey color and its ability to absorb magic. I would much rather deal with them now than get a petricite shard in my foot. Especially since I wouldn't notice until it reactivated a few weeks from now. On that note I should probably check the cuts on my arms for any slivers of stone. _Talk about a nasty surprise._

With the clean up done I laid back on my bed, just enjoying the feeling of not having to fight my magic. Though I did note with some displeasure that my magic was slowly refilling. For now though it was such a small amount that I would have no problem containing it, but by tomorrow I knew it would be full enough to be a burden once more.

The petricite I had on hand wasn't going to be usable in time. I needed a new solution and I needed one fast.

/

The streets of High Silvermere were quiet at night. I noted with some genuine surprise. For some reason I thought it would be livelier. Though I supposed that was rather foolish considering no one really liked going out at night, especially not in a city this high up in the mountains. The cool night air was already made almost frigid due to the altitude, and only grew colder as it wafted off the river rushing around the city. The occasional gust of icy wind from the Freljord also passed through the mountains from time to time. No one liked the cold. Including me.

So it would probably come as some surprise that I was wandering through the streets in the dead of night. But I had a purpose for being out so late, and that made the cold slightly more bearable. Or that's what I told myself as I tried and failed to suppress a shiver.

The faint flicker of torch light up ahead made me freeze, I dived into a dark alley and hid behind some boxes. Holding my breath as the patrol walked by.

Technically I didn't actually need to hide, but a young girl wandering around at night would draw attention. And I didnt want any attention on me, especially with what I had in mind. Also it didn't help that all the guards knew all the members of my family on sight. So if they saw Luxanna Crownguard wandering around at night it would surely garner even more attention and probably feel some obligation to escort me through the city. Word would surely reach my parents as well, which I really couldn't afford.

Before long I reached my destination. I walked through the playground quickly, there was something inherently creepy with being in a playground at night with no kids in sight. After navigating the small labyrinth that was the garden I stood in front of my goal.

The petricite fountain seemed to glow in the silver moonlight. The water looked cool and inviting, and if I didn't already have first hand experience with it, I might have been tempted to splash my hand through it.

I kneeled in front of the fountain and slowly pressed my hands into the supposedly cool stone. To me it felt more like I was pressing my hands into a hot stove. With this much petricite I couldn't even try to control the flow of my already unruly magic. This lack of control led to a rather pretty light show as my magic flowed across the surface of my skin and into the stone.

That glow was the reason I had decided to come at night. I was glad I had listened to my instincts and didn't come during the day as that would have surely resulted in someone seeing it. Under normal circumstances I might have had enough control to make it an invisible process, but with my magic in the state that it was I could barely keep it in me to begin with let alone fight the pull of what must of been a literal Ton of petricite.

Once all my magic had been drained, I could finally feel the cool stone for what it was. Though as my magic tried to refill itself I would feel the occasional flash of heat as it ripped it out of me the moment it formed. I noted with some curiosity though that the flashes seemed a tad more frequent than my previous tests indicated. I wondered if that meant my magic recovery time was increasing.

Something to add to my experiment journal I supposed.

/

"Sorry girl." I murmured in Starfires ear as I wrapped my arms around her neck, nuzzling her affectionately. "Your leg is still recovering. If I took you it might undo all the progress you've made so far." The horse still looked at me forlornly. I didn't know if she understood my explanation or not, but I was sure she understood I would be gone for a while.

It had been a month since the sabrewulf incident, and my leg had just about completely healed. Starfire on the other hand was still going through therapy sessions to regain her strength, though everyone assured me she would be making full recovery in a few months time. Apparently leg injuries were a lot harder on horses and took longer to recover from than humans.

A few more minutes consoling my horse was all I was allowed as I was forced to mount a different horse and ride out to meet my family at the gates. We were going to be travelling west along the mountain range, our destination was the town of Fossbarrow. We were going not only to get out of the city for a bit but also to pay our respects to my great-grandfather Fossian' grave. Originally the plan had been to go at the start of the month but my leg injury delayed that plan a bit. But now that I could finally walk without a crutch we were going.

"Finally!" Garen was the first to speak when I got to the gate. "Now we can finally get moving. What took you so long?"

"I was saying bye to Starfire."

Garen just rolled his eyes at my explanation. "I swear you obsess over that horse way too much. It's not healthy."

"Well i'm sorry I dont have the emotional range of a brick."

"What does that even have to do with anything!?"

My cheeks were burning at my stupid comeback, but now that I said it I couldnt take it back so I just went with it regardless. "It doesn't, but it's not like im wrong!"

"That's not true!"

"Is too"

"Is not!"

"Is not!

"Is too!"

"Thanks for agreeing with me Gare-Bear." I said smugly.

Garen became apoplectic, his face turning a bright red almost approaching purple.

"Children, behave." Moms voice snapped like a whip. "Fossbarrow is almost a full days ride from here. It will be long enough as it is without you two bickering"

"Yes mom!" Me and Garen Chorused. The moment her back was turned we resumed our glaring match.

"Stop calling me that!" He whispered fiercely, practically snarling.

"Stop calling you what Gare-Bear?" My innocent smile not fooling anyone, but it served its purpose in getting that vein on his forehead to throb oh so wonderfully.

His mouth opened to say something, but the cold glare Mom was sending us made his mouth click shut.

I barely suppress my laughter at his expression as we rode through the gates. Dad sent us an amused glance before riding ahead to talk with Mom. She wasn't in all that great of a mood considering this trip meant piles of paperwork when she came back.

"So Garen, wanna play I-spy?" I asked an hour into the ride. I deemed it long enough for him to cool down. He never held grudges for long, which was a trait I admittedly abused a little more than I probably should.

"Sure."

"Okay ...I spy something ...gray…."

"Gray?" He mumbled to himself as he looked around, it only took him a few moments to realize what I had. Slowly he turned back to me and with a tone of utmost loathing he said. "I really, _really _hate you."

This time I laughed openly, my vision quickly being blurred by tears of mirth. But not before taking in the sight of the gray overcast sky, the barren gray mountains flanking us, and the gray gravel that made up the road, even the few trees in sight were a dull gray as all the leaves had long since fallen.

/

We stopped at a roadside inn called the Soaring Raptors Inn, it marked the halfway point of our journey. As it was located at the junction of three different roads, it seemed business was good. That became abundantly clear when we leashed the horses to the hitching post and found five horses already there.

The first thing I noted when I walked in was the warm air, a hearth was crackling away merrily off to the side. The second thing I noticed was the smell, it was the unmistakable scent of freshly baked cookies. My mouth was already watering by the time we reached the counter.

A smiling woman greeted us, her hair was a vibrant red, but age was taking its toll as a few gray strands could be seen. "Greetings travelers, and welcome to the-" She froze, her smile disappearing for a moment as she took in our clothes, or more specifically the golden crest pins that held our cloaks closed. Her eyes became comically wide as she realized who we were.

"C-Crownguards!" I felt bad for the poor woman as she stuttered, clearly floundering. "I-Its an h-honor to have y-you in my e-establishment." She nearly hit her head on the table as she frantically bowed low.

Mom and Dad just looked embarrassed. "It's fine! No need for the formalities, we're just here to rest a little and grab a meal." Dad tried to ease the woman. Unfortunately, that almost seemed to have the opposite effect. She stumbled around the counter and personally led us to a free table near the roaring hearth. She bowed low once more before leaving us to peruse the menu.

"Will everyone react like that?" I asked, my brow furrowed. Sure I knew our family was famous, but in Silvermere while people treated us differently, they were never nearly as bad as that woman.

"Not everyone Lux. But some people will. You'll get used to it one day, trust me." Mom said with a shrug. I severely doubted that but nodded anyways. We all chose a simple beef stew. Though I made sure to get a plate of cookies as well.

/

It was night by the time Fossbarrow was in sight. I was actually thankful of that fact since it meant the streets were clear, and we easily made our way to an Inn. After so long in the saddle, my body was sore and tired. And to make matters worse my magic had built up enough to become an issue halfway through the journey.

As we gave the horses to a stable boy, Garen tried to help get my things inside. He nearly fell back when he tried to lift my bag. "Lux, did you fill your pack with stones or something? It's so heavy!" He grunted as he put the bag down.

"Or something." I stated tiredly as I slung the heavy bag over my shoulder.

Once in my room I locked the door, quickly I removed everything in my bag to reveal the petricite stones at the bottom. I picked up the darkest one and let it drain my magic, stopping just before it formed any cracks. After a month of doing this, I had learned how to tell when it was reaching its limit.

I only used the one stone, putting it back with the other lighter colored stones. I just needed to take the edge off so I could sleep, by putting it with the other fresh stones it would be drained of the charge it had built up, and I could use that same stone again by morning. It wasn't nearly as good as simply using all the stones to completely drain my magic. But since we were going to be here for a week, I couldn't afford to have no way to offload my magic during the cooldown periods. With this method I could use the same dark stone every morning and night. Hopefully it would be enough to let me last through the week.

/

When my eyes opened the next morning it was to a surprisingly bright room. I spent a little while just staring at the ceiling, not quite processing how the room was so bright. A glance at the window showed the faint light of dawn, yet my room looked like it was the middle of the-

I stiffened when I noticed the buzz along my skin. Slowly I looked down and to my horror, every inch of skin I could see was radiating a soft golden light. I scrambled to my bag, dumping its contents on the ground in my haste.

In my panic I ended up having to use two stones to get my magic under control. I placed them back in the bag in the hopes that they would be ready to use come the night. I had only tested using one stone before, never two.

After that scary wake up, the rest of the morning was rather boring. There wasn't much I could do until my family woke up so I ended up just spending the time in my room meditating.

/

When I had imagined the grave of my great-grandfather, the man who died slaying a terrible demon, I had pictured some grand mausoleum. With giant murals depicting the legendary battle that ended with Fossian plummeting to his death off a cliff, the demon impaled on his blade.

So you can imagine my surprise and mild disappointment when I learn it was little more than a grassy mound nestled at the foot of a soaring cliff face, a marble slab set into the base of the mound the only thing commemorating my great-grandfather. It did at least have a carving of his final deed.

We bowed our heads in respect as my Mom said her prayers for her deceased grandfather. Following Demacian traditions she took a single flower from the bouquet and placed it on the slab. We would be coming here every morning for the next week, placing a new flower from the bouquet on the grave everyday.

As we walked back to our horses in the treeline I stopped, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. For a moment it felt like something was watching me. I whirled around to face the direction my gut told me the person was. Only to be met with the marble slab and grassy hillside. I blinked in confusion, my eyes scanning the empty hill, there were no hiding spots but the feeling definitely felt like it had been coming from behind me.

"Lux?" Dad questioned. "Are you okay?"

His voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Yeah." I took a slow step back "Im fine….just uhh, thought I heard something" I said with a shrug and a smile.

As we rode back to Fossbarrow I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. It was almost like the world seemed a little colder somehow, but not in anyway I could recognize.

The discomfort I was feeling only worked to make my magic more agitated, resulting in me feeling more stressed as I kept it in check. It was a vicious cycle as the two things just fed into each other. The more stressed I became the harder my magic pushed, which in turn made me more stressed.

I managed to hold it together though until night arrived. Luckily it seemed the stones had been drained enough for me to use. I fell asleep gladly, the uneasy knot in my chest unwinding as sleep claimed me.

/

I awoke with a gasp, cold sweat making my clothes and bed damp. A quick glance around the room told me it was still night time, though I couldn't tell what time. Whatever nightmare I had been in the middle of was already fading from my memory. Leaving only the barest flashes of something chasing me through a dark forest. Something with sharp claws. Very sharp claws.

Even those faint wisps of memory made shivers go down my spine. Spotting the unlit candle on my nightstand I reached over and gripped the wick between my forefinger and thumb. Letting the magic rise to the surface of my hands for just a moment, I lit the wick. For once my magic seemed to be complacent as if it too wanted the candle lit.

After lighting the candle I immediately felt better. With the darkness gone I managed to ease back in my bed, allowing sleep to claim me once more.

This time I awoke from a dreamless sleep. Whatever sensation that had been plaguing me yesterday seemed to have disappeared. I went through my routine of draining my magic, my brow furrowed as I realized my magic seemed to be more empty than usual. Normally it would be straining against me this early in the morning. Hell yesterday I had literally been so bursting with power that I had literally been glowing. I shrugged it off as just another quirk of magic.

I ate my breakfast that morning with a wide smile. With my magic being so subdued this morning and the weight from the previous day gone, I felt like a million bucks.

/

Whatever joy I had been enjoying died an ugly death as we arrived at the grave. The sensation from the previous day returned with full force the moment it got within sight. Through the entirety of my moms prayer I found myself glancing around trying to spot what it was that was setting me off. Once more I left with nothing except the overwhelming feeling of dread.

That night the nightmares returned even more vivid than the last time.

When I awoke, I had to resist the urge to throw up, the taste of rancid milk lingered in my mouth. I made to grab the pitcher of water on the nightstand only to freeze in place. I stared with more than a little unease at the unlit candle. Before going to bed that night I had ensured the candle was lit, fully intending to let it burn through the night. I had even checked that the window to my room had been shut and my door locked. There was no discernable reason for the candle to have gone out.

Yet the candle still stood nearly at its full length meaning it had gone out almost as soon as I fell asleep, the blackened wick the only thing reassuring me that I wasn't going crazy.

Slowly, I lit the candle with a flicker of magic. And I did mean flicker, for whatever reason my magic seemed to have hardly recovered from the petricite. In fact as I concentrated I noted, it was somehow even more drained than when I had gone to bed.

I sat in my bed the rest of the night, watching the dancing shadows the flame created with wary eyes, I stayed tense all the way until the sun rose to chase them away. The taste of rancid milk never quite leaving my mouth even after drinking the entire pitcher. Only fading away once the light of dawn breached my windows.

After draining my magic, I dragged a chair to the window and just sat there, letting the cleansing light wash away the fears of the night.

/

The table was quiet. Everyone seemed to be lost in there own thoughts. That was fine though as after staying up for half the night I wasn't in much of a talking mood. I didn't have much of an appetite, but I shoveled the food into my mouth anyways. I had skipped dinner the previous night due to the uneasy feeling, I couldn't skip two meals.

We hardly said a word as we made our way out of Fossbarrow. I knew why I wasn't talking, but why was everyone else so quiet? I looked closer at my family, for the first time taking note of the slight bags under their eyes. A suspicion forming in my mind, one I hoped was wrong.

"Did uhh...did you guys sleep alright?" I asked uncertainly.

No one answered for a few moments. Eventually Garen spoke up hesitantly. "...I had a nightmare last night." He said quietly. My parents shared a look but didn't say anything. Though I could see the sleeplessness in their eyes.

/

This time when I looked around the grave I thought I saw someone standing at the top of the hill. But when I tried to focus on the figure it was gone. I blamed my lack of sleep.

/

I looked around at my surroundings. My breath came out in visible white puffs. The trees around me were dark and foreboding, their branches almost reminded me of grasping hands. A glance up at the sky showed an empty sky, no stars, no moon, no clouds. Just an empty expanse as far as the eye could see. The sight of the empty sky actually made me feel better, it just meant that I was dreaming.

A twig snapped to my left causing me to whirl in its direction. I strained my eyes but I could see nothing, just the vague outline of trees. Holding a hand out I tried to create a light bright enough to see by. My hand only flickered for a few moments before winking out.

_Okay. No light, no problem. _I wrapped my arms around myself and began to move through the dark forest, Idly I noted I wasn't even wearing shoes. Despite the fact that I _knew_ it was a dream, I couldn't suppress the sense of fear and dread that permeated my every pore. Dreams were a bitch like that.

A haunting melody suddenly rang through the forest, it sounded like a child was singing somewhere. _Well thats not creepy, not at all. _I thought sarcastically. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to pinpoint what direction it was coming from, the sound seemed to bounce around making it seem like it was coming from everywhere at once.

With nothing else to do, I picked a direction and started walking. The dirt under my feet felt moist and cold like it had rained earlier that day or something. Why cant I dream of being on a nice beach? Why does it have to be the haunted forest of doom?

As I walked I brushed a hand along one of the tree trunks, I recoiled at the sticky cold substance that stuck to my fingers. Mildly disgusted I groped around for a dry section of bark and scraped my hands on it. Even still I could feel the stickiness of my hands.

I was so busy scowling at my fingers that I didn't even notice the soft pitter-patter of feet getting closer. Not until it screeched directly in my ear.

I didn't yell, so much as I expel all the air in my body in one loud go. My fear making me bolt a good ten feet before I even turned around. But there was nothing there. Just more trees and darkness.

"What the fuck." I gasped out, a hand clutching my beating heart. My ears still rang from the loud noise.

"Lux!" A distant voice called.

The voice echoed so much in the forest that I couldn't even tell the gender, let alone if I recognized the person. I turned in the direction I thought it came from and ran towards it. The trees rustling around me and a powerful wind pushed against me. In the darkness my foot caught a gnarled root and sent me tumbling.

As I made to push myself up something unbelievably cold wrapped around my foot, I hardly had enough time for my eyes to widen before whatever it was gave a hard yank. It was unrelenting as it dragged me along the forest floor, my hands scrambled around for a handhold but finding no purchase. My fingers digging uselessly into the soil, only serving to dig furrows into the soft earth. Twigs and rocks scraping my exposed skin raw. All the while I screamed as whatever it was that gripped me wound tighter around my leg. The coldness seeping deeper in my flesh, almost burning in its intensity.

Suddenly the tugging changed directions and I found myself flying through the air and coming to an abrupt stop. Dangling in the air a few feet above the forest floor. The burning cold held me aloft like an animal in a trap. I tried to reach my hands up to grab at the thing around my ankle, but my hands passed uselessly through it, as if it weren't there. I only knew there was even anything there due to the numbness that had spread along my hands. I flopped back down, my hair brushing the floor. I whimpered slightly as the burning cold seemed to ooze down my leg.

A shadow in the treeline moved. It's outline somehow darker than the trees around it allowing me to more easily track its movements. "Who's there!" I called uncertainly.

The figure said nothing just standing there, seemingly watching me.

"Hello?!" A growing sense of dread blanketed me. The shadow slowly but surely moved towards me. Ice forming in my veins as it drew closer. Something primal inside me screaming for me to run, to scream, to do anything except stay there.

"Lux!" I could still hear the distant voice calling me, it sounded even closer now.

"Help me! Please!" I called out to it, maybe whoever it was could-

The figure didn't even slow in its advancements. Its pace not even speeding up as it took its time closing the distance.

Not willing to do nothing I held my hands out, trying to summon my magic. Nothing came. Not so much as a spark came at my call. It felt like my magic was hiding from me. No, not from me, it was hiding from this..._thing_ in front of me.

I stared in greater horror than before as I realized that whatever it was, my magic deemed it prudent to try and hide from it rather than come to my aid.

It was now only a few feet away, I could see an arm start to come up towards me. The appendage was mere inches from touching my face. Cold heat radiated from it, burning and numbing my face simultaneously. If I felt like this when it was just nearby I dreaded to think what would happen if it touched me.

I screamed, long and loud. A shrill sound, filled with complete and utter terror. A tendril a inky black extended from its outstretched hand. It probed my face, each touch feeling like the snap of a whip. I tried to block the tentril with my hands but it just flowed around them like smoke. Without warning it shot forward and rammed down my throat, two more tendrils formed and shot up my nose.

If it had a taste or a smell, I wouldn't have been able to tell, as what felt like liquid nitrogen was pumped into my body. It moved in my body, filling me up and all the while it writhed and bucked. It felt like it was searching for something, cataloging everything. Eventually it found my magic, I could feel as it wrapped around it completely surrounding it. Tighter and tighter it squeezed. Burning and choking it, what little magic I had in my body was being snuffed out like a candle in a hurricane. Its connection to my magic allowed me to glimpse into its mind, if the mass of hatred and terror in my body could even be classified as a mind. What I saw only terrified me more.

I begged it to stay alight, for when my magic finally went cold, I knew what would happen next. The darkness didn't need my magic, it didn't need me. It only wanted my body, not _me_. Just as I felt the last embers of my magic begin to fade-

_BANG!_

-Suddenly I wasn't upside down anymore. I was in a sitting position but my scream continued, only stopping to take in more air before continuing. I grasped at my face in terror, lashing out at the figures I could see standing around me. One of them tried to grab my arm and I recoiled away.

Falling a short distance before something impacted with my head. The sudden pain causing me to stop screaming. It began anew however as hands grabbed my arms and lifted me into the air. I writhed and kicked in their grip, all the while screaming bloody murder.

"Lux!" I stilled at the sound of my name. "Lux. Calm down your safe. Your fine." For the first time I realized there was a hand gently brushing through my hair. I squinted in the darkness at the figure holding me. "D-Dad?" My voice felt oddly quiet after all the screaming.

"Yes Lux, it's me." At those words I practically melted, my arms wrapping around his neck. My face burrowed into his shoulder. Tears streamed down my face, sobs wracked my shoulder from both overwhelming fear and relief.

The thing that terrified me the most was the literal spark of magic that sat on its lonesome in my chest.

It wasn't just a dream.

/

"Lux. You need to talk to us sweetie." My Mom spoke softly.

I stayed silent. I didn't know what I was supposed to say.

"We can't help unless we know what happened." Dad tried to coax from my otherside.

How was I supposed to explain what had happened? _I _didn't even know what happened.

They had taken me to their room and we all just laid in bed, me tucked between the both of them. The close contact and soothing touches had done wonders to calm my frantic mind. Bringing me out of my near hysterical state.

"I had a nightmare..." My voice came out in a dry croak, my abused throat telling me to stop. "But it was...different..." I could already feel my eyes beginning to well up at just the thought of it. "...It was...real."

They stared at me in silence, trying to comprehend what I had said. Slowly, mom took my hand in hers, the warm contact making me look up at her. "Sweetie...I'm sure it was a scary dream but-"

I could hear the condescending tone in her voice, sure it was wrapped in thick layers of worry and love, but it was still there all the same. I yanked my hand out of her gentle grip. "IT WAS REAL!" I yelled, angry tears streaming down my face. They _know _I wasn't one to say such things without reason. They _knew _I was far more mature than anyone my age, yet they doubted me!

They looked briefly taken aback by my outburst. Dad held his hands up placatingly "Okay. Why don't you tell us why you think it was real?" I could hear the doubt in his voice, he was just trying to calm me down, make me see reason in his eyes. No doubt he was going to try to poke holes in my explanation.

I glared at him, I glared at both of them and their stupid condescending smiles. "My magic is gone!"

The room became deathly silent after my outburst. Their faces became stiff. "Your ...magic?" Dads face grew pensive, and mine grew pale as I realized what I had just said. To my knowledge, Dad didn't know about my magic, and I had just yelled it out to the world.

"I-I... I didn't mean…." I stuttered with wide eyes. My mind racing trying to figure out a way out of the hole I had just dug.

"Your magic is gone? How?" Dad asked calmly.

I just stared at him with a gobsmacked expression. "You knew about my magic?" I glanced at my Mom, she only shrugged with an equally confused face.

"Well yeah..." He glanced at the two of us. "...was it supposed to be a secret?" He asked wryly.

"Of course it was!" My voice came out a little shriller than intended, sending me into a coughing fit as my abused throat complained at the use. A glass of water was quickly placed in my hand.

As I drank gratefully Dad went on to explain. "When you were a kid...err, a younger kid at least. You didn't have nearly the level of control you thought you did. Whenever you got happy the world seemed to brighten, and when you were sad it dimmed. It was so subtle that most people would probably just think it was a coincidence or their minds playing tricks. I thought the same, until that time you got sick." He chuckled a little. "Every time you sneezed every light source in the room would flare up in brightness. It was actually kind of cute."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "So you don't ...mind?" I stared up at him with hopeful uncertainty.

He ruffled my hair with a smile. "Your my little girl. A bit of magic isn't going to change that fact."

I did my absolute best to squeeze the air out of his lungs. "I love you Dad."

"Love you to dear." He rubbed my back for a bit before pushing my away. "Now what were you saying about your magic being gone?" The reminder was like ice water, completely dousing any of the warm fuzziness that had been growing for the last minute.

"It's like I said. It's gone." I took a deep shuddering breath before explaining my dream in detail.

"Then that settles it I suppose. Pack your stuff, we leave at dawn." Dad stated calmly, already grabbing his belongings. He apparently could feel my stare as he stopped what he was doing to look at me. "What?"

"We're leaving?" I asked slowly, trying to wrap my head around the unexpected claim.

"Well yeah..." He looked at me with some confusion. "...did you want to stay?"

"NO!" I was quick to reassure. "But I mean, shouldn't we like deal with whatever it is first? It could be a threat to Fossbarrow or something." I spoke hesitantly.

Mom cut in with an arched brow, "Do you know what the shadow creature is?"

I shook my. "Well no but-"

"Exactly. You don't know what your dealing with, and neither do we. The best we can do is get you out of harm's way while professionals come to take a look. So far the creature only seems capable of giving us nightmares, but has only shown the ability to actually interact with _you._"

"But-"

"No buts Lux. We leave at dawn and that's final." Dad spoke sternly. "Now go tell Garen and have your things ready."

I left the room quickly, before they could see the frown marring my face. For reasons I couldn't put into words I really didn't want to leave, even with the sound logic my parents had stated. Something inside me was telling me I should stay.

/

I stared at the contents of my bag in a mixture of horror, surprise, and curiosity. What looked like a bucket's worth of fine black sand rested at the bottom of the bag. I reached my hand in and sifted through to sand until my fingers touched the leather bottom. No matter how much I moved my hand around I didn't feel any sign of the burning blocks of petricite that should have been in the bag. Only cool black sand greeted my questing fingers.

Swallowing thickly, I continued packing the rest of my clothes in the bag. My hands shook without my consent.

The appearance of the black sand terrified me. Petricite didn't do that when it came in contact with my magic, it would crack and crumble into shards, perhaps even explode if I pushed too much into it. It did not disintegrate into a near powder. All that, told me was that whatever the thing was that attacked me last night managed to do it after completely destroying the magic dampening rocks. Even when I was at full power, I would have had to use nearly all of it to achieve similar results. Yet the creature had managed the feat and still had enough power to completely overpower me. Granted I had already been weakened from what I now realize must have been smaller attacks throughout the past few days, and on top of the fact that I had been voluntarily draining my defenses every morning and night.

The only silver lining I could find was that my necklace has not been destroyed as well. I wasn't sure how or why, but it remained unblemished, without so much as a chip. Somehow surviving when petricite stones much bigger and of higher quality had been completely destroyed.

I put the distressing thoughts out of my head, slung the bag over my shoulder before moving into Garen's room. He could use the help packing, and I could use the company. With my recent revelations, I very keen on the idea of being alone just then.

/

Practically the exact moment the sun had appeared on the horizon, we were already at the gates. My parents stopped to inform the guard commander of the situation. If what I lip read was correct, they were going to be on high alert for the next few days with mandatory curfews. At least until the Illuminators and Mageseekers arrived to deal with whatever the threat was.

Before long we trudged down the road back to High Silvermere. I barely even noted the passage of time as all my attention was focused on the early morning light. A blissful feeling suffused me far more intense than I had experienced previously. While the feeling of sunlight usually generated a pleasant sensation, it wasn't usually enough to make me almost moan in pleasure.

I literally had to bite my tongue to stop any questionable noises from escaping. The light around me visibly straining to bend in my direction, creating what looked like heat shimmers in the air around me. It took a lot of willpower to make the light act even _that_ normally as my body tried to fill the void in my chest by absorbing all the light it could reach. My body literally acting on its own to replenish my pitiful reserves. Like a starving person given a buffet it couldn't help but gorge on the nourishing light of the sun.

In the years of experimenting with both petricite and the use of my magic I had experienced being magically exhausted countless times, but not once could I remember having such a visceral reaction. I could only attribute the intense hunger to the method in which my magic was gone.

Petricite forcibly drained my magic, and intentional use drained it. At the end of the day, my magic was used up. But that _thing_ didn't drain my magic, it destroyed it. The feeling of having something as intimately connected to my being as magic be destroyed was indescribably unpleasant. Even when it was ripped away from me with petricite I could still track it as it went into the stone.

So distracted with the sensations and thoughts pervading me, I didn't even notice when the first bits of snow had started falling from the sky. Only taking note when it became thick enough to impact the light I was getting. Like coming out of a deep sleep, it took me a few moments to register the howling wind, and cutting snow that whipped across my skin. Whatever relaxed state I had been in quickly fled as I came to my senses.

"THE INN IS JUST UP AHEAD!" My dad roared over harsh wind. Indeed I could see the glow of the windows through the thick snow.

It took some work but we managed to get the horses into the stables in the back of the inn. Everyone was shivering slightly and trying to shake off the melted snow when we got inside. Well everyone but me, as my magic had done a marvelous job of keeping me warm while it had been refilling itself. Though I did take the opportunity to wipe off the melting snow as being wet was still annoying regardless of temperature. The air in the Inn was toasty warm even with the blizzard raging outside, apparently this place had wonderful insulation.

I still felt a little light headed from the rush of getting so much of my magic back, so I stumbled over to a table and flopped into a chair. Somehow the whole process left me both energized and exhausted at the same time. My reserves felt nearly three quarters of the way full which was a bit ridiculous considering it would normally take me a whole day of passively generating magic to get even half full. If I meditated I could probably reach similar results, but that took hours of conscious effort, which I normally don't even bother with unless I had an experiment I wanted to try that day. The fact that I had been _trying _to slow my rate of magic regeneration during the ride and still ended up with so much magic was a shock.

"You okay?" Garen said from the chair next to me.

I gave him a tired smile. "Oh yeah. Just peachy."

He hummed for a second just taking in my slumped posture. "Hmph...and you were telling me to channel funshine." He turned his nose up haughtily, sniffing dismissively.

_Funshine? What is he- _My eyes widened as it clicked. A surprised burst of laughter bubbled up. "Hahaha! I taught you so well. A master couldn't be prouder of her student." Wiping a mock tear from my eyes.

"There's my sister!" He clapped my shoulder. "You didn't say a single word the entire trip. Just stared at the road with that weird smile. It was ...weird."

"Sorry Garen. I was thinking about stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Subtle I name thy Garen.

I sighed as a looked at my brother "...I will tell you when your older?"

He just stared at me for a second before straightening himself. "Im older than you."

"And?" I raised an eyebrow.

He deflated shoulders slumping. "Your impossible."

"It's one of my most redeeming qualities thanks!" I spoke with exaggerated cheer. His scowl just made my smile widen.

Grabbing his hand I gave it a good squeeze. "Thanks Garen." I spoke softly putting as much seriousness as I could into my tone. "I appreciate it."

His gaze was as solid as steel, showing a glimpse of the man I knew he would grow up to be. "Of course. Your my sister." The serious air dropped as his face turned sly. "And you look weird without your funshine."

"You brat!" I smacked his arm scoldingly. "Your not gonna let that go are you? I said it once! Once!" Though I tried my best, my lips curved upward completely ruining my attempt at being angry.

I never got to hear Garens retort as a tray of steaming food was placed in front of us, courtesy of our parents. I had been so distracted since waking up from the nightmare that I hadn't even noticed the hunger pangs, but the smell of the food reminded me that I couldn't go on an all Light diet. As I devoured the food, I couldn't help but look around at my family. Taking in their happy attitudes as they laughed and joked with each other over the hearty meal.

Perhaps this whole nightmare will just be a footnote in my life. I smiled softly at everyone, ignoring their curious stares. With a loving family like this how could I ever dwell on something so ridiculous.

/

The storm outside continued for the rest of the day, only letting up once the sun had finally fallen from the sky. But at that point it was pointless, we certainly weren't going to attempt to go home in the middle of the night. Even if the possible threat of the monster wasn't reason enough, only fools traveled long distances in the night. Their were other threats that roamed the mountains at night. My runin with sabrewolves a month ago was a good reminder of that fact.

So it was with some embarrassment that I knocked on Garens door. He opened it quickly, a slightly disgruntled expression on his face, no doubt he had just slipped into bed when I knocked.

"Can I sleep with you?" I just blurted, trying to get it over with as fast as possible.

"What?" He stared at me with widened eyes, confusion written on his face.

"I uhh-" I played nervously with my pajamas. "-I don't want to sleep alone."

"Umm sure… I guess?" He still sounded dumbfounded even as he let me in.

"Thanks Garen." I quickly slipped into his bed, waiting in slight discomfort as he slipped in too.

He made to blow out the candles only to be yanked back. "NO!" I didn't know who was more shocked at my sudden outburst. "I'm sorry. Just...could you leave it on? Please?" I couldn't quite meet his gaze as I mumbled my request. Slowly he nodded and laid back into bed, acquiescing to my request. I turned on my side facing the wall, my back was pressed against his side. His curious gaze burning the back of my head.

I didn't blame him for his state of confusion. In the entirety of this life I had never done something so childish as show a fear of the dark. Most kids would ask to sleep with a sibling or a parent sometime in their childhood, but not me. Thanks to the fact that I was an adult, I could rationalize such fears away or just ignore them altogether. And in the rare instances where I did feel some fear I couldn't ignore for some strange reason, I was my own personal flashlight.

But this was different. Afterall it wasn't an irrational fear if their really was something waiting in the dark.

Somehow almost without my consent, my hand had snaked back and found itself gripping my brothers hand. The warm reassuring touch lulled me to sleep. Idly before sleep claimed me I wondered why I hadn't done this before, it was surprisingly comforting to sleep with someone you loved nearby. I made a quick mental note to do this more often.

/

I slept through the night. Waking from a dreamless sleep feeling more rested than I had in weeks. First it had been fear of my magic that had led to uneasy nights, then it had been the nightmares of the last few days. But with Garens arms wrapped around me I felt relaxed, like all my problems couldn't reach me so long as I was cocooned in these blankets.

The comforting atmosphere was promptly shattered by the fluid I could feel dripping down my cheek and into my parted mouth. I scrambled out of his arms with a startled shriek. Spitting to the side and wiping my tongue on the blanket frantically.

"Lux!" Garen sitting up just as quickly, awoken by my loud scream. "What's wrong!"

I completely ignored him, climbing over him for the pitcher of water. Guzzling the cool liquid. It wasn't until the pitcher was half empty that I calmed down enough to answer. "You drooled into my mouth!" I shuddered in disgust, I had swallowed his drool on sheer reflex upon waking up. Who knows how long I had been doing that while I slept?

He blinked at me for a few moments, trying to process my words. His concerned expression vanishing. Loud laughter filled the room. Only being interrupted by the pillow I shoved in his face. My outraged expression only set him off again.

Eventually even I found myself laughing along with him. After the fear of the last few days. the sheer ridiculousness of the moment caused the tightness in my chest to unwind. Leading to near uncontrollable laughter.

Our parents came rushing into the room, no doubt hearing my scream from earlier. Their gobsmacked expressions when they found us rolling in mirth just lead to both of us laughing even harder.

All in all, their were worse ways to wake up.

/

It felt amazing to be back in High Silvermere. The familiar sound of the river soothed me like nothing else. It was a sound I would probably always associate with home. As we made our way through the gatehouse I breathed in deep, allowing the scents of the main thoroughfare fill my nose.

"You guys go on ahead, I'm gonna go explore a bit." I dismounted and handed the reins to Garen.

I just walked around, letting the flow of the crowd take me where it wanted. Sometimes stopping at an interesting stall, or peering into the window of a shop to see the new goods they had.

Eventually I stopped at a building, its architecture drew my attention like nothing else. It was unlike any of the buildings surrounding it. Where the other buildings were all the same general layout and color scheme, looking like something out of a medieval text with its hewn stone and weathered timber. This building in front of me was a graceful mixture of polished marble with a latticework of bronze, practically the entire outerwall that faced the street was made of glass.

A sign above the door read _Miriam's Wonderous Workshop. _The words written in shining bronze. A smaller, less grandiose sign hanging beneath the first indicated the store was having its grand opening today. With my interest piqued I went in.

A smell I had nearly forgotten wafted into my nose. It confused me for a moment as I puzzled over it. My eyes widened as I realized it was something I had only encountered in my last life. The unmistakable smell that only seemed to be found in one place, the smell of a carshop. Though a quick glance around showed no signs of automobiles, instead on tables and cabinet shelves all around the room gleamed metal contraptions of various designs. Their purposes were alien to me, but I could spot hundreds of exposed gears and cogs.

My mouth dropped at the sight of so much technology around me. Sure I knew intellectually that this world had such things in it from my books. But the closest thing I had seen in demacia to something I would recognize as technology was the clock in my moms study. Seeing so much of it in one place was a bit of a shock. I found myself flitting from table to table studying all the different contraptions, trying to suss out their possible uses. I didn't dare touch anything though, the delicate looking gears that comprised them made me fearful of breaking them.

"AH! A curious soul is always a refreshing sight!" A voice boomed behind me causing me to jump, nearly knocking the weird metal ball of the table. I scrambled to stop it from rolling off the table. I spun around to stare into the amused eyes of the man.

My eyes widened as I had to look much higher than I had expected. He was a giant almost reaching seven feet in height, he was also heavily muscled, with a thick beard. He laughed at my expression. "Sorry little one! I was only admiring your passion. It had been awhile since I've seen such a display of curiosity." Even when he tried to speak in a lower volume it still made me flinch in its loudness, and I noted he had a strange accent I hadn't heard before. "So this is your first time seeing work from piltover?"

"Piltover?" I glanced around at all the room with new eyes. "All of this is from Piltover? Is this..Hextech?" I couldn't contain my excitement. Stories of Piltover's technology has always fascinated me.

He laughed not unkindly "Hextech? No my girl. This-" he gestured around the room "Is all powered through simple mechanical means. Unfortunately it would be far too difficult to procure Hex crystals this far away from Piltover."

"Oh." My shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Thats cool too I guess."

"It is!" He agreed readily "Let me show you their features! I promise you won't be disappointed!"

And so I spent hours being led around the room, oohing and awing at practically everything. The man was nice and seemed to genuinely loved talking about his craft, never once showing irritation at my endless questions. I learned he was from Piltover, his family owned a chain of businesses in piltover and he wanted to spread it even further, so he moved to Silvermere. He seemed so hopeful and happy, thinking that he would have a successful time selling his wares in a country that didn't have such marvels.

I didn't have the heart to tell him he had made a mistake. Demacia didn't have such creations not because they lacked the resources or manpower, but because we were stubborn, almost to the point of being irrational. We didn't like change, and such technologies were the physical embodiment of change. I was an outlier since I had grown up in an entirely different world, but even then I knew I wasn't completely immune to Demacian ideals as I would have liked to believe. Your surroundings change you, and I had been entrenched in this life for eight years, it was bound to leave a mark, no matter how slight or unwanted the changes were.

Obviously I hoped I was wrong, and wished him the best. But the fact that only three people had walked into the store in the hours I had been there wasn't helping assuage my worries.

Before long the sky was darkening and he ushered me out, telling me to get home before it got dark.

He didn't need to tell me twice as I practically ran home, not wanting to be outside at night. The deepening shadows of sunset were already making me nervous as it was.

/

When I reached the safety of my room I ran into a rather big issue. One I found myself nearly cursing for forgetting.

I didn't have any petricite. Or at least not any big enough to do anything worthwhile with. The only blocks I hadn't taken with me to Fossbarrow were ones that were too small to be of use. The black sand in my bag had yet to revert to its normal color and still didn't react to my magic, assuming it would recover from the creatures magic to begin with.

But the point was moot as regardless of if it would recover or not, the fact that I had no way to dump my magic was unchanged. The thought of sneaking out at night as I had done previously nearly parlyzed me with fear. With that avenue of release firmly closed, I had to think of a new plan.

With a sigh I realized I would just have to go early in the morning while the city was still asleep. Their wouldn't be anyone in the park so I should be able to dump my magic without any witnesses. For now though I needed to dump at least a little magic, I had been nearly full al lday and now without the distraction of the shop I was feeling the strain rather acutely.

Taking a deep breath I got into a meditative position in the middle of my room. Slowly, oh so slowly, I allowed my magic to gather in my hands, gritting my teeth as it tried its best to flood out. I quickly shut the flow, leaving me with a ball of magic. I just sat there taking deep breaths, allowing the orb to slowly unravel and dissipate into the air. Seeing and feeling the success of it I grinned, sweat beaded my brow, and I had a slight headache but I ignored it. This was progress. Not even a week ago I wouldn't have been able to let so much as a flicker of magic out into the world without nearly giving myself an aneurysm trying to contain it. Now I was able to hold a ball of it with bearable stress.

I repeated the process, over and over. And I planned on repeating the process until enough of my magic had been used that I could fall asleep without fear.

But like all plans of mice and men, this one went awry.

A gentle knock on the door surprised me out of my trance, the sound of Garens voice calling my name echoing from the other side. I stared wide eyed at the ball of magic in my hands in panic. The panic only served to make my control slip and pour more magic into the ball. It exploded with a quite bang and a brilliant flash of light, but in my silent room it might as well have been a gunshot.

The gentle knock turned into a harsh pounding, the handle jiggled momentarily, thankfully locked. "Lux! Are you okay? I heard a loud sound!" Garens voice sounded on the other-side.

The sudden bang had frightened me so badly that my control had slipped for second. My magic came flooding out of me in that split second I lost control. Quickly I grabbed all the magic and gathered it in my hand. I squeezed my hand around it in an attempt to further contain the thrumming energy. In a nasty feedback loop, my fear made me unintentionally pump more magic into my hand, which lead to more fear, and so on.

_No! Nonononnono! _I panicked. With the amount of power I was currently struggling to contain I knew that even the thick wooden door of my room wouldn't be nearly enough to protect Garen when I finally lost control of it. I couldn't even spare enough concentration to warn him, if I so much as made a sound it would all spill out.

I _needed _to get this under control and I needed to do it yesterday! Using both hands I squeezed my magic even tighter. My head pounded away from the strain I was putting it through. But fueled by the crazed desperation I pushed on. Squeezing tighter, and tighter with each beat of my heart.

Eventually something gave. And it wasnt me. Suddenly the magic in my hands stopped trying to explode out into the world. The sheer suddenness of it nearly made me fall over as I had been straining so hard against it. I looked at my hand cautiously, waiting for some sort of trick. Only for nothing to happen, I noted that even the visible glow streaming through my fingers had dimmed considerably, almost to the point that it wasn't visible in the bright room.

Even more cautiously I slowly began to uncurled my fingers, ready to clamp them shut at the slightest hint of trickery. Before I could get them halfway unfurled, another knock came from the door.

It sounded less like a knock and more like someone had punched the door repeatedly. "LUX! OPEN THE DOOR!" My brother sounded frantic.

I ran to the door, ignoring my legs protests as they had fallen asleep long ago, my right hand clenched tightly behind me. I wrenched the door open, and almost caught his fist with my face before he stopped it. "Hey Garen." I tried to keep my voice casual.

He gaped at me. "Wha-" He seemed at a loss for words, hemming and hawing in confusion. "-What do you mean, _Hey Garen!?_" His voice dropping into a falsetto as he tried to mimic me. "Why didn't you answer me the first time! I was screaming your name for ages!" He blinked as he took in my form. "And why are you so sweaty?"

The last question caught me off guard, and I noted belatedly that yes, my skin was shining with perspiration, and my hair was practically glued to my face and neck. "Uhh." I took a few moments to think of an explanation that could cover all the bases. "I was sleeping?" It was a lame excuse and an even worse lie, I knew it, and if the way Garen was glaring at me was anything to go by, he knew it too.

Before he could say anything more I spoke quickly. "I'm really tired so I'm gonna go back to bed!" Practically slamming the door in his face, his widening eyes the last thing I saw before the wood crashed into the frame. I slid down the door, too tired to get up. Even as it shook with the force of Garen's furious knocks, I just leaned back against it. Taking an odd sort of comfort from the harsh vibrations, they were fueled by his love for me, and weirdly enough that put a smile on my tired face.

Eventually, Garen stopped, and I could hear him stomp away grumbling to himself. I would no doubt get shit for it later but at the moment I didn't care.

With nothing else to focus on, my attention returned to my still clenched hand. I opened the stiff fingers slowly. I stared in confusion as I saw what was in my hand.

Resting in my palm was what looked like a fleck of glass the size of a grain of sand. It glowed softly with its own inner light. The lights themselves were evershifting, never turning the same shade twice. It almost looked like someone had turned an aurora solid.

With a start, I realized that was exactly what had happened.

Somehow in my panic, I had for a lack of a better term crystallized my magic. Condensing it to such a degree that it had actually become solid. A brief probe with my senses reassured me that it was indeed my magic, but unlike usual while it registered as mine to my senses, I didn't seem to be able to interact with it.

I stared at the shifting speck of light, unsure what I was supposed to do with it now that I had it. Though I noted with some satisfaction and surprise that the creation of this tiny crystal had drained nearly all of my magic. Leaving me satisfyingly empty.

I supposed that I had found a way to keep my magic in check after all, at least until I regained my previous control of it. Assuming I could repeat this new feat reliably of course.

I sighed as I realized that once again I would be adding a new section to my experiment journal.

/

**New AN: Hey! Lol sorry about the delay. I had decided to rewrite the chapter or at least add a bit to it as I had felt the previous chapter had been resolved wayyy to fast. But I ended up adding, and adding, and adding. It was only supposed to be off the site for an hour or two as I added some stuff, but I somehow ended up taking days. I apologize, but I believe it was worth it. **

**So how was it? A little weird that the whole Fossbarrow fiasco went without any real resolution huh? I personally like that though. Sometimes in life stuff just happens ya know? The world doesn't revolve around anybody...well except Aurelion Sol but that's a different matter altogether lol. She is a child, so why the hell would she go fight a demon? Let alone why would her parents let her, or even encourage such a course of action? **

**For some reason authors seem to think that just because the main character runs into something threatening they apparently have to be the one to find a way to deal with it. Sometimes its makes more sense for people to make rational decisions and let people do their actual jobs. (COUGH HARRY POTTER COUGH) **

**People familiar with the short story "For Demacia" should know what had happened in Fossbarrow. If your curious pm me and I can explain, or you can read the story on the League of Legends site (Its pretty good, but im a lux main so I like all the stories with Lux lol). **

**Glossary:**

**-Hextech: It's basically magical steampunk fueled by magic crystal called Hex Crystals, sometimes called Hextech Crystals. **

**Old AN: Hey guys I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, and like always feel free to PM, or review if you have any questions, comments, complaints/concerns, or ideas. I love hearing from y'all.**

**In my head, I imagine magic is sort of like a drug. And since lux had been barley even using it her whole life, going so far as to suppress it most of the time. The massive amount she had used in the fight was the equivalent of taking LSD when in the past all she had done was take breath mints. Bad analogy I know, but it makes sense if you think about it….I think? That's why I believe the World Runes corrupt the user so easily. A mage, even the most skilled and powerful is a drop in the ocean compared to the sheer potential power in the World Runes. So since lux had spent so long suppressing and only using the barest amount of magic, the sudden release of it is having a similar effect on her. **

**By the way the Petricite info this chapter is a mixture of head canon and actual canon. In the lore it's never really gone into too much detail. In canon Mageseekers carry a dark gray stone disk of petricite called a greymark, we've seen it be used to successfully block the attack of a powerful little girl, though the graymark seemed to blacken and crack after stopping that one attack. So it stands to reason that a similarly powerful little girl trying to pump the entirety of her magic into it would make it explode rather than just crack. **

**Also the colors of petricite seemed to differ depending on the use (demacian structures are white/light gray, and galio is also white/gray) and the graymark looks really dark in comparison. So I figure it's probably related to how much petricite wood was used in its creation. It's not exactly confirmed in canon but it makes sense to me, so thats what im running with. **

**If your curious the short story was from Sylas page. It was actually really interesting to see how the mageseekers work from their point of view. (Although it was told through Sylas' pov but he was with the mageseekers so it's the same thing.)**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	10. Chapter 10

/

**Chapter 10**

/

"Why are we out here again Dad?" I asked brightly from my seat behind Garen. The early morning light as invigorating as it ever was. Though my spirits were dampened a little at the fact I had to ride shotgun with Garen, with Starfire still on the mend even after three months.

"I told you two yesterday didnt I? We're doing some wilderness survival training. You two will be spending the weekend in the woods, living off the land."

Garen, ever the morning person just grunted in response.

"Well yeah, you told us that, but I was more asking why we're going _this _way." We had been traveling for the better part of three hours in a direction I had never gone before. Instead of the rocky slopes I was used to, we were now on a flat path lined with thick lush trees. It was almost jarring considering the general lack of trees near Silvermere.

"Well you won't be living in the mountains all your life now will you?" He answered my question with a teasing question of his own. "Mountains are sparse in Runeterra, but forests are everywhere."

"Everywhere? But Shurima doesn't have any forests" I couldn't help but say.

He gave me an unimpressed look. "Yes Lux, thank you for your astute observation. Shurima, the literal Desert country doesn't have any forests."

I nodded happily. "Thanks dad! I try." Going back to the original topic of discussion. "So how is this going to work? We just camp out for the weekend? We didn't exactly bring our gear."

He looked back at me a funny expression on his face. "Gear? I said _wilderness survival training_ not _relaxing under the stars training._"

Garen snorted, earning himself a sharp pinch in his side. He jumped in the saddle visibly before elbowing me in the stomach. Our little fight continued for a while until he got a little too into it and nearly knocked me off the horse.

"If you girls are done fighting back there, how about we stop here for a rest break?" Dad sounded so amused it got my hackles to raise.

"Hey!" Me and Garen spoke at the same time. He was annoyed at being called a girl, and I was more annoyed at the intent behind the insult. But regardless of our feelings we did hop off the horse.

I let out a satisfied groan as I stretched my arms above my head. Horse riding was nice and all, but it was hell on the body. I did a quick routine to stretch out all the sore muscles I had accumulated over the long ride, focusing particularly on my legs. Garen was next to me doing the same things, though he was noticeably less limber than me.

Dad watched on with a smile, just settling with leaning against a tree. His body much more accustomed to the rigors of riding long distances.

We broke out some dried meat and bread from our packs. The horses enjoying their own meal of greens from the surrounding forest.

"Enjoy this while you can." Dad warned as we ate. "This is going to be the last proper meal you will be having that you won't be working for." His words just caused me and Garen to eat at a slower pace, savouring the flavors of the smoked meat and buttered bread.

We hit the road again after an hour of lounging around. Eventually turning off the path altogether traveling deeper into the untamed wooded land.

/

"I can't believe Dad just left us here." I moaned for what was probably the fourth time in that hour alone.

"I can't believe your still complaining." Garen said drily.

"Of course im still complaining! He literally dropped us off in the middle of the woods, said he would be back in a few days, then left!" I shouted in indignation, throwing my hands up in the air, and only barely resisting the urge to stamp my foot.

"Hmph." Garen kept walking his gaze firmly on the floor looking for something. "He did give us this." His shoulders rose drawing attention to the bow and quiver of arrows strapped to his back. "So it's not like we're in any real danger of starving or harm."

"So! It's the principal of the matter! He took our packs too! And what if were attacked by a bear or something!"

"Its survival training Lux." He reminded me, sounding like he was trying to explain something to a particularly slow child. "Also, really? Bears? There hasn't been anything seen in these woods bigger than a dog in the last decade. The local Garrison sweeps the area every month, and it just so happens that they just did one last week."

"Well what about Freljordian raiders?" At this point I knew I was just grasping at straws.

"Like I said the local Garrison does sweeps, also why would Freljordians be this deep in Demacia? They only attack border villages and the like."

I could only grumble my displeasure at his annoyingly sound logic, swatting at the multitude of bugs that kept trying to swarm me. "What are we even walking around for? Shouldn't we set up a camp first?"

"We're looking for food, either edible plants or some game. While a camp would be nice we can't split up since we don't know the layout of the land yet. It would be too easy for us to get separated. We find food first then we make camp." He said patiently.

"Fair enough I guess." I had no choice but to follow his lead, unlike me he had been on survival trips like this before. One of the perks of being three years older. I wasn't really angry, I was just venting steam and Garen knew that.

As we walked we picked up a multitude of mushrooms and berries we knew were okay, stuffing them away into empty satchels. We had even found a few blossoms of dormisroot, the hardy plant was common throughout all of Valoran. It had many medicinal properties, and in the hands of an expert could cure most common ailments. I had no extensive medical expertise, but even I knew it could help sanitize our drinking water just by dropping a few of its yellow petals into our flasks, also it supposedly made a rather nice tea if steeped in boiling water. Its versatility made it a very popular plant among soldiers or anyone who had to rough it out somewhere.

I nearly walked into Garens back when he stopped abruptly, he stood unmoving, his hand slowly unslinging the bow and nocking an arrow. I didn't move a muscle, scared I might alert whatever prey he had in his sights. His back blocked my sight so I could hope it was prey he was aiming at and not a predator.

The twang of the bow and whistle of the arrow the only thing that told me he fired. I watched his tense shoulders slump, either he missed or he hit his target. "Did you hit it?"

"Yeah." His relief was palpable. "It's a rabbit. That should be enough meat for the rest of the day."

I scrunched my nose behind him. I had long since grown accustomed to this world, but it was hard to get used to the idea of killing and eating a rabbit. I had rather fond memories of playing with my neighbors rabbit in my childhood. Regardless of my discomfort I knew meat was meat, and since the thing was dead already it would be even worse if I didn't eat every last bite.

We added the fluffy corpse to our satchel and moved on, looking for a place to camp for the night. Eventually we settled in a small clearing.

Once our stuff was put away we got to work getting a campfire set up. Garen motioned me over and made me watch him prepare the rabbit. Much to my displeasure he said I would be doing the hunting and preparing for tomorrow. With that knowledge in mind, I made sure to pay extra attention to the rather morbid and gross process. _Sorry Mr. Snuggles, but everyones gotta eat. _

/

After cooking the rabbit we had a nice lunch of mushrooms and rabbit meat, with a surprisingly good flask of dormisroot tea. A handful of berries served as our dessert. What remained of the rabbit was wrapped in leaves and put away, the same went for what berries and mushrooms went uneaten.

We spent a few minutes lazing about just enjoying our full bellies. Garen got up and motioned for me to follow. He pulled a coil of twine from his pack and made me follow as he set up snares, we would check in the morning if they caught anything. Much like earlier I was informed I would be also setting the snares tomorrow as well.

Once we returned to our camp, if you call a set of blankets and a fire a camp. We settled in for the night, bundled under the same blankets to share body heat. Without a tent the night air was much too cold to sleep comfortably otherwise.

"Hey Garen?" I mumbled as I stared up at the sky, taking in all the stars and nebula I could see. This world didn't have to worry about things like light pollution or smog, allowing the true beauty of the night to shine through. It always took my breath away everytime I saw it. The stars so bright that even if the moon was at it smallest phase I could still see by it. But it wasn't just the beauty that fascinated me, I could feel the magic in the stars and moon. Even without trying to see the magic I could feel it as it kissed my skin. If the sun was like a parent cheering me on, the moon and stars was more like a friend smiling at me.

"Yeah Lux?"

"Do you believe in aliens?"

"What?" I could feel him turn to face me.

I gestured up at the sky above, not taking my eyes off the sight. "You know, life out there amongst the stars?"

He stayed silent for a while, just staring up at the sky in thought. Eventually, he spoke, his voice uncharacteristically thoughtful "I suppose I do. I mean with the amount of stars up there there's bound to be a rock with life growing on it." He took a deep breath. "But it doesn't matter if there is or not. We only need to worry about what on our little rock."

"I suppose that's not untrue." I nodded.

"What brought up that question anyways?" I could feel his gaze on the side of my face.

I shrugged, but I don't know how well that translated since I was on my back. "I don't know. I was just curious I guess?"

"Hmph. Well, you can be curious in the morning. I'm going to bed. Night Lux."

"Night Garen."

/

I just layed there listening to Garen's breathing, eventually, it evened out. After an hour of even breath's I slowly crawled out of the blanket, careful not to disturb him. Though I knew he slept like the dead, I wasn't willing to risk it. I tiptoed into the treeline, the moonlight that made it through the thick canopy was so dim that it might as well have been pitch black, a quick application of magic allowed me to amplify the light just before it reached my eyes, allowing me to traverse the forest without worrying about tripping.

My fear of the dark while still present had faded considerably at the news that Illuminator's had dealt with the creature that had been lying dormant at my grandfather's grave. Apparently, it had been the same demon that Fossian had fought all those years ago. It had been so weakened that it had gone into a sort of hibernation.

Much to my own chagrin, I had realized only after seeing there report that I actually knew about the creature beforehand. My memory had grown more than a little hazy over the years, but the talk of Fossian's Demon had jogged my memory. Nocturne, a demon the original Lux had run into in one of her stories. Though she had run into it under completely different circumstances, she had been much older perhaps seventeen, and the Demon hadn't even targeted her, instead preying on a magical child of whom she would later save by driving off the Demon. It was these differences mixed with my own failing memory that had lead to me not making the comparison earlier, my own personal trauma from the event muddling things even further no doubt also contributed.

The most troubling part to me was that I didn't know what I could have possibly done to have warranted such a major deviation, or if the changes had even been my fault, for all I knew this could have been an entirely different universe than the one I had read about. And if something like this could happen, just other things could have changed?

I kept walking until I knew I wouldn't be seen from camp. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a little metal box the size of a floss container. The moment I began to open the lid, I could already see the shifting light stream through the crack. With a curse, I slammed it shut. Rubbing my eyes in irritation, I had forgotten to stop amplifying the light, so when I opened it I nearly blinded myself.

Now no longer maintaining the spell I proceeded to open the container. Once fully open a beam of light shot out of the opening much like a flashlight, except for the fact that the light that came out was a veritable rainbow of shifting colors, to the point that it almost seemed white with how many colors mixed.

I tipped the container in my hand allowing its contents to spill into my palm. Without the metal siding the light was able to go in all directions, illuminating the immediate area in its iridescent glow. In the palm of my hand rested six bb sized crystal spheres. Each glowing with their own inner light, all of them shifting the same color at the same time, as if they were all connected.

The first crystal I had made had been the size of a grain of sand, but after some experimentation, I had come to realize that I could pump my magic into it and simply add to its mass, rather than have to make a new crystal every time. These six bb sized crystals were the accumulation of nearly all my magic over the past two months. To my magic sense, the superdense concentrations of magic shone like the sun.

These past three weeks I had been slowly weaning off of how much I dumped into the crystals. Slowly but surely increasing the amount of magic I held at a time to get myself used to it again.

Putting five of them away I clenched my hand around the remaining one, I only allowed half of my magic to go into the ball. It went in easily without the slightest hint of resistance, which made sense since it was literally made of my magic. When my hand unclenched I couldn't spot any difference in its size. Though I knew that was simply because half a grain of sand spread over the circumference of a bb sized object was a ridiculously small change. After taking a moment to watch the pulsing ball of solid light, I put the crystal back in and shut the lid with a snap.

I walked back to the clearing and slipped back under the covers, sighing contentedly at its warmth.

/

The next morning was rather strange as it was the first time I had awoken with the sky in clear view. As usual I was wide awake before the sky had fully shed it nighttime hues, if I looked closely the stars were still clearly visible, though they were fading fast. It was always a weird experience, feeling the stars and sun mingle. Like mixing hot and cold water at the same time, it made me hyper aware of both. In those first few minutes of waking up, I always felt like I had injected pure adrenaline. It hasn't always been like that, but it seemed my sensitivity to the light of the world was constantly increasing, thankfully though the sensation always faded quickly.

Idly as my heart pounded away, I wondered if the original Lux had this problem or if I was just hypersensitive to these things since I grew up without magic. I couldn't remember reading anything of the sort, but it had been nearly nine years since I had access to the internet, let alone looked at a wiki page. The information I could remember was suspect at best, and wrong at worst. I had long ago come to the conclusion that I should try my best not to rely on any of my lore knowledge. With all the retcons and additions, I couldn't be sure what had been canon and what wasn't. For all I knew I had caused some butterfly effect and wrecked the timeline somehow. And that was even assuming this was the same universe as the one from the lore. I mean all the big history things I read sounded familiar enough, but I couldn't be sure, so it was safer to just live like a normal person and take things as I see and experience them, not how I _knew _them to be.

Shaking the useless thoughts I got up when my heart stopped trying to jackhammer its way out of my chest. Inhaling a deep lungful of the crisp morning air, I trudged off into the forest to take care of nature's call, already missing my bathroom with every step. Once back I began doing my morning stretches. To call it stretching would have been a bit of a misnomer as it was much closer to yoga. I wanted this body to retain its flexibility as it aged so I followed a strict regimen every morning, each day pushing the limits of my flexibility.

Oddly enough the desire to be flexible had nothing to do with _wanting _to be flexible. It was more because I didn't want the ability taken away from me. In my last life I had realized far too late how inflexible I had become with age. Sitting criss cross had been a challenge and touching my toes might as well have been a dream. But by the time I had realized it, the effort needed to regain that flexibility would have been monumental, and even then I would never have reached anywhere near the level of those that had stretched daily in their childhoods. With this new body, the clock had been reset and I would be damned if I fell into the same situation. Besides I always woke up hours before anyone else so it wasn't like I didn't have time to spare.

While I stretched I played with my magic, shifting it around inside my body, contorting it into shapes, stretching it, condensing it. It flowed like water one moment, only to turn to syrup the next. It was mentally taxing and gave me slight migraine, but it was something productive to do while I did my routine. A few minutes meditating under the sun and the headache would fade.

If I had been in my room I would have probably done something more visible with my magic, but since Garen was sleeping right next to me, I had to settle with this.

Once done with my stretches, I just sat and watched Garen sleep. Tilting my head in wonder at the sight of my brother somehow managing to sleep with the sun literally shining in his face.

Eventually my patience reached its limit and I yanked the blanket off of him, the cool forest air doing the trick as he shot to his feet with a yelp. "Good morning!" Slowly he turned to look at me, his eyes zeroing in on the blanket still in my hand before looking back up at me. He didn't even bother to comment as he simply stumbled off into the forest with a scowl.

"What?! No good morning?!" I yelled at his retreating back. I snickered as he disappeared, Geren really needed to work on being more of a morning person. He was going to the military academy in the capitol in less than two weeks. I wasn't sure how he was going to survive.

"Come on. Let's go check the snares." That was all he grunted at me when he returned.

Unfortunately all the traps were empty, so it would be up to me to get the meat. The bow had a low draw weight so it wasn't all that hard for me to use, but my short arms didn't really let me draw it back all the way. This meant the arrow would travel slower and less distance which would make getting the kill shot much harder. I found that out the hard way as I watched the third rabbit run off, my arrows traveling just slow enough that the rabbit could react to the sound of the twang. I never realized I would have had an issue as shooting at a target dummy never showed that glaring weakness. I would need to predict my shots rather than shoot at where the rabbit was.

Garen however seemed to find my plight funny as he would laugh raucously everytime a rabbit managed to slip away. I scowled at him, "Yeah, that's right! Laugh it up! Just remember if I don't catch anything that means were eating mushrooms and berries tonight." that got him to shut up thankfully.

I inhaled as I pulled back the bow. The rabbit was perhaps thirty yards away, it would be a very hard shot, but I couldn't afford to move closer or it would run. I waited until it got between two rocks to limit its dodging capabilities. The moment I felt it was right I let the arrows loose. It hit home with a thunk I could hear from here. I let out a whoop of joy, it soon crashed when I realized I had just killed a bunny. But even then I still felt a glimmer of pride in the act.

/

After a long morning trekking through the forest gathering supplies, finally being able to sit down was amazing. Even better was juicy the rabbit leg in my hands. Eating something you put in the effort to kill somehow made it taste so much better.

The only thing putting a damper on my good mood was the ominous gray clouds over head. They had moved in fast over the course of last hour. "You think it's gonna rain?"

"Probably." He said, eyeing the clouds warily.

"Should we like, I don't know do something?"

"There's not much we can do." He shrugged. "The blankets have been treated to be water resistant so were probably just gonna bundle up tonight. If we knew of any caves nearby I would say we should try to make it there, but we don't. Let's get as much dry firewood as we can before all of it gets soaked."

While we were out getting wood the rain started. It came in thick heavy droplets, with no warning whatsoever. One moment it was cold, the next it was wet _and _cold. We ran back to our little clearing and dropped some of the wood into the fire to keep it from going out.

Hours went by with us just huddled under the blanket together. The rain never letting up for even a second, if anything it had actually gotten worse. It had gone from simple rain, to a full blown storm with thunder and high winds.

Whatever waterproofing the blankets had undergone had clearly not been designed for this kind of punishment as I could feel the fabric becoming slightly damp after the hours of endless rain.

By the time night fell our little cocoon was little better than the world outside, it was thoroughly soaked and only really good for keeping the wind at bay. We clutched at each other to preserve body heat under the sodden blanket but it was doing little to help, both of us shivered intensely.

I worried at my lip. I knew of a way to help our situation but I couldn't bring myself to use it. A violent shiver from Garen made up my mind. I couldn't just sit here and let my brother get sick, pneumonia was still lethal even in Before with all its medicine and technology. With how cold it was getting, I wouldn't be surprised if hypothermia was also on the table.

"G-Garen?" I spoke through chattering teeth.

"Y-Y-yes?"

"Y-you know about…" I trailed off, my courage abandoning me. What if Garen hated me. What if by forcing him to confront the issue he realized how much he hated me. What if-

"L-Lux?" His voice broken up by his chattering teeth reminded me what was at stake. I couldn't let fear endanger my brother, whether he would hate me or not didn't matter if he died because of my cowardice.

"You kn-know about my m-magic right?" I said it fast before I lost my nerve.

Garen didn't answer, he stayed so quiet and still for so long I would have thought he was asleep if not for the shaking I could still feel. Eventually after what felt like an eternity he spoke. "Y-yes. I-I do."

"I'm go-going to u-use it. We w-won't last the night i-if I d-don't." I wasn't asking if he was okay with me using it, I was telling him I was.

I let my magic suffuse my being. Its warmth banishing the cold. While I felt great now, it did nothing to help Garen. Concentrating I focused on letting my magic out in a gentle glow. I could hear Garen gasp at the sight, his arms tightened around me minutely in what I hoped was surprise and not fear. But I ignored that and focused on my magic. With my reserves at full I could probably keep this up for the rest of the night. But that wasn't my issue, my issue was that I wasn't sure I could maintain the control necessary. I needed to keep a constant temperature while simultaneously keeping the glow dim, it was hard to do since it was natural for warm light to be bright. I needed the light to warm him, not blind him.

Garen didn't speak for the rest of the night. We layed in silence under the wet blankets.

/

The next morning was horrible for me. I hadn't slept a wink that night as I had to keep my magic going for the whole night, by the time the storm finally passed the sun was already rising. Despite how tired I was the light of day forced me to stay awake. It was like drinking coffee after pulling an all nighter. Technically it worked to keep me feeling awake, but it wasn't pleasant.

Garen had fallen asleep late into the night, despite his discomfort with my magic sleep eventually claimed him. With a sigh I got out of the warm blankets, the cold damp air felt even worse on my slightly damp clothes and skin. It smelled of rain and wet earth.

With no reason to hide my magic anymore I just let it flood my system, my skin visibly glowed for a second before slowly fading away. Now comfortably warm I grabbed the bow and quiver and made my way into the forest. I knew he would be sleeping for a while with how late he had fallen asleep, I saw no reason to wake him from his deserved rest. And if I was being honest with myself I was trying to avoid him. He hadnt said anything last night, but I didn't know how he was going to react once he awoke and I needed to keep busy or I would kill myself with worry.

Hunting seemed like a good distraction though I wasn't really sure if there would be anything running about so soon after a storm.

Around thirty minutes in I spotted tracks in the mud. Rabbit prints. With some excitement I followed them. Thanks to the wet ground, it was child's play to follow the deep impressions.

Eventually I spotted my quarry. It was eating some berries that had been knocked down in the storm. With its attention firmly taken up by the food I was able to get a little closer than I normally would have dared. Close enough that I knew I would have no problem hitting it.

As the arrow hit its mark, the satisfying thunk met my ears. I smiled in satisfied pride.

My lips froze as a second thunk echoed not a split second after the first. Another arrow had skewered the already dead rabbit from the other side. Slowly I looked up into the shocked eyes of another person.

The fur cloak the person wore obscured any of their details, the drawn hood covering their face in shadows. Only the barest wisp of snow white hair escaped the hood. Other than their pale skin and hair, the only thing of note was their rather short stature.

We stared at one another in silence, too shocked to do anything else.

Quicker than I could react the person reached back and nocked another arrow. The sudden move opening their cloak, giving me a glimpse of a lithe figure wrapped in strangely familiar clothing.

It was only after they pointed the loaded bow at me that I recognized their clothes. It was a style I had seen only in drawings in the books in the library.

_Freljordian. _

/

**_AN:Yo! Hope y'all liked the chapter. Like always feel free to review or PM. Questions, comments, ideas, concerns, complaints, etc etc. All are welcome. Especially if you have a problem with something in my story, I would love to hear about it and see if its something I can fix. (I can't improve if I dont know whats wrong.)_**

**_Yeah so someone said I was exaggerating the political power/importance of the Crownguards. But honestly? I'm REALLY not. Lol let's put it this way, in the Lux comic Tianna asked Garen to talk to the prince about marrying Lux and it sounded like Jarvan had agreed easily. The two families are so close that apparently the crown prince didn't see a problem with making a Crownguard a Queen. In a monarchy that is a HUGE deal. You can't get any higher in terms of political power than being able to confidently ask the crown prince to marry one of your family._**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

/

I held my hands up, making a show of dropping and kicking my bow away. "Don't shoot!" I pleaded with the person.

They gave no sign that they even heard me, just continuing to aim the bow at me silently. I waited to see if she would shoot, my magic singing just under the surface, waiting for my call. Even with that reassurance I was scared, I had experimented with making barriers before, but I had only ever stopped stones I tossed and on one memorable occasion hail. An arrow was an entirely different beast. It took a few seconds for me to make a barrier and the process wasn't exactly subtle, the archer would kill me the moment she saw me try. My best bet would be to blast the arrow out of the air with a very wide blast, such a tactic assuming I could pull it off would have the added bonus of blinding the archer which should make dispatching them all the easier.

For now though I was hoping I could talk my way out of it. Just because the person in front of me wore the clothes of a foreigner didn't mean I needed to jump at the chance to fight them.

"Do you speak the Common tongue?!" I shouted at them, receiving no response I tried my hand at what little freljordian I knew. "Speak?" Still the person did not respond. Just as I began to think I would have to take the chance and blast her, a twig snapped behind me. My eyes widened. _There was more than one. _With a silent curse I spun around.

I only managed to turn enough to catch a glimpse of the wooden club that struck me. Then everything went black.

**/**

Consciousness was a slow and painful process. The first thing I noted was that I couldn't move more than a few inches. The second thing I noted was that I couldn't see. Taking a deep breath and ignoring my pounding head, I took stock of my situation.

Judging by how my arms and legs had pins and needles running through them, they were bound rather tightly, the rough bark pressing into my back meant I was tied against a tree, my head pounded. By the way the light interacted with my magic, I was able to discern that it was midday. It had been early morning when I encountered the archer.

Okay, so I was tied up and bound to a tree. With an unknown amount of hostiles around me. I knew for sure there were at least two people, unless the archer had telekinesis, I severely doubted that was the case but considering the crazy things in this world I unfortunately couldn't discount the possibility.

The fact that I wasn't dead was a good thing. It meant they wanted me for something, it meant I had a chance to work out an escape.

_On the other hand…. _My mind traitorously whispered.

The fact that I wasn't dead was a bad thing. It meant they wanted me for something. My mind already recalling all the horror stories I had heard of what the barbarians of the frozen north did to those they captured.

The conflicting train of thoughts made my head a jumbled mess, added on to the pounding headache, I didn't realize someone was standing in front of me until I felt the cool metal blade press against my cheek.

"Your awake aren't yeh girly?" A gruff voice spoke into my face, his warm breath washing across my face.

For a moment I contemplated staying silent, perhaps he would go away if I-

That train of thought was swiftly derailed as the blade dragged across my cheek, cutting a deep groove. I screamed at the unexpected brutality.

"Ah! There she is!" His laughter showed just how much he cared that he had just cut a little girls face. It sent chills down my spine. "So girly, why don't you tell me what I want to know? Yes? Things will be a lot smoother for you if you do."

"What do you want to know?" My voice cracked.

"Simple really. How many of you are there?"

"I-" I swallowed my fear and licked my suddenly dry lips. "A dozen, there's fifteen of us. You should let me go before they come looking. They're all armed and-" My head snapped to the side as something hard slammed into the side of my face. Blood pooled in my mouth and leaked down my face from my shocked lips.

"I thought I made it clear earlier what would happen if you lied." He sighed sadly, but his tone spoke of an entirely opposite emotion. "I guess I will just have to show you."

"Wait! I was telling the truth! You don't-" Another smack shut me up.

"Another lie? Eh?" He chuckled, "Looks like I will have to double the punishment." The blade once more touched my face, this time on the other cheek. Just as the blade began to draw its searing line into my flesh, a voice spoke out from further off.

The person spoke fast and harshly. My torturer spoke in much the same tone. I could only make out a few words here and there due to the fact they they were speaking freljordian. The few words I did understand did nothing to shed light on what they were talking about. But from their tones it sounded like they were arguing about something. After a couple of exchanges, the man got up and stomped away, muttering under his breath angrily.

I was hyper aware of every sound the person made as they approached me. I flinched when I felt the person dab at my cuts with what was probably a cloth. "Sorry about that. He was supposed to come get me when you awoke." Now that the person wasn't using that harsh language, I could tell the person was a woman. "I'm going to ask you some questions now."

_What was this? Good cop, bad cop? _Despite my situation I couldn't help but snort mentally at the thought. I didn't speak but I nodded.

"Good, now, how many of you are there?"

Knowing my last answer didn't work, I chose a more believable one. "It's just me."

"Why were you out here all alone?"

"I come out here to hunt every month."

"What's your name?"

"Luxanna."

"Well Luxanna. You answered one out of three of my questions truthfully." I stiffened at her words. "That young boy was much the same, siblings I presume?"

Before I knew it I was straining against my bindings, practically frothing at the mouth. "If you touched Garen I will fucking kill you!" My mind filled with images of my brother, mutilated, screaming, dead.

The woman just chuckled. "Oh? I thought you said you were alone?" I just snarled at her. "If it makes you feel any better, we didn't hurt him ...much."

My magic raged alongside me. It begged me to let it out so it could sear these people from the world. The only thing stopping me was the fact that I couldn't guarantee Garens safety.. Once they realized the kind of threat I posed they would probably use him as a hostage.

"Oh don't make that face, we only hit him once to knock him out the first time." She spoke amusedly. "He was rather belligerent upon waking up, but he sang easily enough once we put a knife to your neck." Her fingers ghosted across my neck to emphasis her point, her touch made me notice the small nick I had on the side of my throat. I stilled at her touch, my anger now tempered by fear at the realization of how close I had come to dying in my sleep.

"What do you want?" I spoke calmer, now that I knew he hadn't been hurt too badly. This wasn't the time to let emotions take control. I needed to remain calm and collected.

"Honestly? I'm not sure."

"If it's money you wa-" Fingers pressed against my lips in a shushing motion.

"Your brother already tried that. What would we even want with Demacian money? Its useless back in Freljord. Though I suppose we could melt it down and use the metal." She pondered quietly.

I thought quickly, trying to come up with something that could get us out of this unscathed. "What about weapons, armor? Im sure my father could procure an armories worth. Our silver and gold may not be worth much to you, but what about Demacian Steel?"

For a moment she was silent, I could only hope I had intrigued her. "Demacian Steel?" She spoke finally after seconds of tense silence on my end. "Tell me is this made of Demacian Steel?"

She pulled my blindfold off, I had to blink the spots out of my eyes from suddenly not being in the dark. As my sight cleared I saw she was holding my dagger in front of my face. "Yes it is." As she inspected the blade, I took the time to look her over. The woman in front of me had long black hair, her piercing grey eyes were glued to blade in her hand. I remembered the Archer had white hair, so that meant there were at least three of them. A quick glance to the sides showed nothing but forest. My magical senses flinched at what I could only describe as an icy gale washed over it.

Suddenly the dagger in her hand shattered and fell in a tinkling rain to the forest floor. I gaped at the hilt she still held in her hands. "Worthless." When she saw my expression she laughed. "Your first time seeing magic girl?" As if to emphasize her point her hands emitted a soft blue mist, I shivered at the sudden temperature drop. "The freljord is a cold place, this steel would shatter in a week. Our smiths know this and make our blades and armor so they can handle the chill. I have no need for your Demacian Steel" She sneered the last words.

"Then what do you want." I recovered from my shock quickly.

"Nothing you could give."

"Then what will you do with us?" My previous confidence in my magic was shaken at the reveal of her own magic. I had never encountered another mage before, so I had no clue what to expect, other than the fact that she likely had more time and a less stifling environment to practice her craft. If it came to a fight I could only hope I could take her out before she realized I had magic as well.

"Your rather pretty. Did you know that?" Her sudden and unexpected words made me freeze in confusion. She traced my face as she spoke. "In a few years im sure many a man would pay a high price for you to warm their beds. Im sure I could get a good price for you back home. So as you can imagine I was rather pissed to find Alex cutting into you like that, if he left any scars your value would have dropped considerably."

I just blinked at her in confusion. My mind not quite processing what she had just said. Slowly I was connecting the dots. "W-What?" I spoke in shock. "What are you talking about?" My voice came out noticeably shriller.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Don't sound so freaked out. The pretty ones are usually treated rather well, or so I hear at least." She shrugged noncommittally "So long as you don't cause any-"

"No!" I shouted over her. "I'm not for sale! I won't le-!"

A sudden pressure around my throat cut me off. "Listen here you little shit. _You_ won't be _letting_ me do anything. Your mine to do with as I please. If I sell you as someone's pet, you smile! If I decide to kill you, you smile! Do you understand? If you do, smile and nod." She hissed into my ear.

She must have been using her magic as her hand felt like ice. The memory of the dagger shattering under her touch came to mind, quickly squashing any idea of fighting back. My smile was wobbly, and my nod was more of a wild jerk. But it was enough as the pressure suddenly disappeared, allowing sweet air to enter my lungs. I coughed violently, my throat no doubt sporting a hideous bruise.

"Good so long as you understand." She crooned sweetly to me.

"What about Garen?" I croaked past my abused throat.

"What about him?" She sounded genuinely confused now.

"What will you do with him?"

"Hmmm? Ya know? I'm not sure." She pat my cheek. "But it doesn't matter what I decide now does it? You belong to me." She stared at me expectantly, it took me a second but I realized what she wanted, and quickly nodded with a smile.

With a satisfied smirk she got up and walked out of my sight. Now that she wasn't filling up my vision I could see we were on the edge of a clearing, four tents were set up in front of me with a campfire in the center. Most importantly however I could see Garen, tied to a tree at the other end of the camp, directly across from me. "Garen!" I said as loud as I dared. But he didn't respond, remaining motionless. He looked to be bound in the same fashion as me, and he had a bruise on his temple, but other than that one bruise I saw no other injuries.

Since he was still unconscious I decided to wait on my breakout attempt. I wasn't strong enough to carry him. For now I would bide my time and gather as much information as I could.

Four tents, and judging by the size I assumed there were only four people. I could only confirm three, and even then I only saw two with my own eyes. The camp appeared empty at the moment, but that would no doubt change. I would play docile, and when the moment was right I would strike. There was no point to rush this, I would only get one chance to surprise them with my magic.

Before long the Archer came into view, the person didn't so much as glance in my direction as they settled by the fire, and began skinning a rabbit. The man returned soon after the archer appeared, he was a massive beast of a man, with thick fur armor serving to increase his bulk even further, a giant axe strapped to his back. The slaver woman was the last to return before night fell. They all just sat around the fire, eating the cooked rabbit, sharing a few words and the occasional laugh.

As they ate the Slaver Woman got up to feed me. "We don't want you lookin too thin now do we?" I accepted her food. Despite her reasoning for wanting to make sure I was fed, I was grateful for the sustenance, the last time I had eaten was the previous day. I glanced worriedly at Garen as I chewed on the bit of rabbit she had put in my mouth. He still had yet to wake up. What if something was wrong? Head injuries were serious business, this wasnt some action movie were head trauma didn't exist.

I put aside my worry as I watched them go into their tents. Though I noted with some confusion as the Archer entered one of the tents then left and went into a different one a few moments later. The reason soon became clear when another woman exited the tent and started stretching. She must be the night watch, that explained why I had never seen the fourth person yet. She had been sleeping to ensure she could stay awake for her shift.

"What are you staring at kid?" The woman questioned, bright red hair seemed to almost be ablaze in the flickering light of the campfire.

"Nothing." I quickly glanced away from her. I didn't want to draw attention to myself. With nothing of note happening, I became aware of a quirk in my senses. If I concentrated hard enough I could _feel _a chill coming from one of the tents. It was the same tent the Slaver Woman had gone into, so I assumed I was sensing her magic. A similar but more intense feeling had spiked on my senses earlier when she had used her powers. I had hardly paid it any attention before with all that had been happening, but now it was important. Assuming I could feel her at longer distances I could use this to my advantage. Being able to feel exactly where she was would open a lot more avenues of planning.

Unfortunately since I hadn't slept the previous night due to the storm, I soon found my eyes drifting shut on their own accord. Just before sleep claimed me, I glanced at Garen.

_Wake up Garen, i'm going to need you soon._

/

**AN: Yo! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, as usual feel free to PM, or review if you have any ideas, comments, complaints, questions, etc. I love talking with y'all.**

**Freljordians are sort of like the Wildlings from game of thrones. Sort of. They have many varying tribes, some tribes are alright, some are just down right messed up. (Cannibals, slavers, etc etc.) This is stated in the Canon btw.**

**Just as an FYI, I'm planning on releasing the next chapter of my justice league story soon. (Its the next thing on my list.) I sort of just stopped for a while and focused all my effort on this story. I just couldn't bring myself to write the justice league one. Idk why, it wasn't like I lost interest, I just really like this story I guess. But now that i've written nearly 50k words in a month (holy shit lol, I literally wrote all this on the fly, the day I posted this story is the day I put the first word on my document) I will go back to my justice league story. I will probably end up doing alternate updates from now on. **

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**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

/

When I awoke, it was to the sight of blue eyes boring into mine. Relief washed over me. Garen was awake. We didn't dare try to speak, though our hands were free enough to do rudimentary signs.

"Report?"

"Four. One mage."

"Mage?" He signed with wide eyes.

I nodded. "Ice."

"How long?" It took me a second to understand as it could have had two meanings. He was either asking how long I had been awake, or how much time had passed since our capture.

"Awake one day." I shrugged at him. For all I knew I could have been knocked out for over twenty four hours.

We stopped when we heard movement from one of the tents. Alex's massive form slowly lumbered out of his tent. He stretched up to the sky. "Man I need to get a bigger tent." He grumbled to himself, scratching at his beard. He didn't even acknowledge us as he made his way out of the camp.

"Silence now." Garen signed, his face tense. I just nodded. We didn't need them to know we could communicate without talking.

Everyone got out of their tents within minutes of each other, probably awoken by Alex's not so quiet awakening. Soon the camp was a flurry of activity as they began packing up.

"So." Selma, which I had learned was the Slaver Woman's name, was crouching next to me messing with the ropes. "I'm going to untie you now. And I don't think I have to tell you what will happen if you try anything. Do I?"

"No." I shook my head. She didn't have to tell me, and she certainly didn't have to worry about an escape attempt any time soon. I needed to work out an actual plan first.

"That's good to hear." She hoisted me to my feet, all the ropes were removed except for the ones binding my hands together. Drawing her dagger she cut those ones, rather than trying to untie the much more complicated knots. I took a moment to rub my aching wrists where the ropes had chaffed.

"That's pretty." She murmured.

"What is?" I glanced back up at her in confusion, only to freeze. At first I thought she was staring at me, but I realized her gaze was trained on my neck.

"Your necklace." She reached forward as if to touch it, only to stop inches from it. A frown on her face, no doubt feeling its pull. "Petricite?" Her gaze still trained on the necklace, but I knew the question wasn't rhetorical.

"Yes."

She snorted in disgust. "You Demacians and your damned Petricite." Her hand retreated and she turned to walk away.

She gestured, and I followed her as she walked towards Garen. She crouched next to him, drawing her knife she glanced over her shoulder at me. "We were planning on just slitting his throat." I tensed at her words, readying my magic. It may not have been the ideal time to make a move, but I would be damned before I let her touch him. She chuckled at the face I must have made. "Somehow though I didn't think that would have made you more amenable to travel. So I decided he will be coming with us." A flash of metal later and Garen was standing, looking warily at the still crouched woman. "You do anything you know you shouldn't and your brother dies." She stared into my eyes as she said it.

She turned to Garen. "And if _you _try anything, you die. Your sisters the one we want, you're expendable. Though if you survive, I suppose we could get a decent price for you. Noxus likes the ones they throw in the fighting pits to be strong."

"Now then," She stood up, brushing dirt from her knees. "we're moving out, keep up."

/

After trekking through the forest for hours, Selma finally signaled for a rest break.

Me and Garen found a log to sit on, as far away from them as we dared. "Here let me take a look at that." He opened his water flask and poured some water on his sleeve.

I stared at him puzzled for a moment. It took a bit to realize he was gesturing towards my cheek.

The cut on my cheek had scabbed over in the night, and though the bleeding had stopped, the wound was still fresh enough to hurt something fierce. I flinched as Garen cleaned out the area around the cut.

"It's not too bad, it shouldn't leave a scar." He muttered as he dabbed at my face.

I hummed distractedly in agreement. I was busy watching everyone, trying to find anything that could be helpful to our situation. The red haired woman's name was Edith, and Selma had appointed her to be the one to watch us. On her hips were a pair of large daggers, meaning she was likely speed oriented. And sticking out of the edges of her boots I could see the handles of much smaller daggers, likely meant to be thrown.

All in all, we had an archer, a musclebound brute with a ridiculously oversized battle axe, a woman who appeared to be a fast close range combatant with the added capability of medium range if she throws her weapons. All of them were threats that needed to be taken seriously, but I could with reasonable accuracy guess what they could and could not do.

The real threat was Selma. The Mage. I had only seen her shatter a dagger with a touch, and for all I knew that was all she was capable of. Or she could be powerful enough to freeze the whole forest with but a thought.

Magic was fun like that. You never knew what you were dealing with, until you were dealing with it.

She was a wild card, and I didnt know how to deal with her other than trying to kill her before she could react. Considering she had admitted to wanting to kill my brother and apparently had no qualms selling us into slavery, I wasn't all that bothered at the thought. The thing staying my hand was that even with Selma gone I would need to deal with the rest of her crew. I packed enough of a punch to kill all of them, of that I was certain. The problem lay in the fact that there were four of them, and one of me. In the time it took me to kill one, the others would move in.

All it would take is one wound. An arrow from an experienced archer in such close range would almost certainly hit a vital point. The axe would cleave through our small bodies like twigs. A well placed dagger could end it just as fast.

Selma first, then the archer. Those two were unconditional as they were the biggest threats. Alex and Edith on the other hand were interchangeable, the order I took them in would depend on the situation.

Before I made any moves, I wanted every possible thing in my favor first. Positioning, timing, day or night mattered. If I attacked in the day, I would undoubtedly have more power at my disposal but they could also see me just fine. An attack during the night however would impair their sight but leave me with perfect vision, while simultaneously weakening my power. Both had their pros and cons. I just needed to figure out which was worth it. Once I made my move, there would be no going back. And when failure meant the death of me and my brother, I couldn't afford to mess up.

"Lux?"

"Sorry, what?" I shook myself back into the present.

"We're moving."

"Alright. Let's go." With a grunt I got off the log we had been resting on for the past few minutes.

As we walked I noted that Selma had wandered off to the side, disappearing in the trees. While she was well out of sight, I could still feel her magic, like a gust of cold wind from her direction. The closer she was the stronger the ethereal wind. Eventually though she got far enough away to completely disappear from my senses. If I had to guess, my range was a little less than a hundred feet, assuming physical objects didn't impact its range.

With the confirmation that Selma was gone, I contemplated making my move then and there. With the hot midday sun, and the element of surprise, I was sure I could take out at least two of the three before they realized what had happened. Leaving the last person to be easily overwhelmed.

I mentally shook my head. Even if I killed all three of them, and even if I did so without so much as a scratch on me and Garen. I would still need to deal with Selma. An ice mage that I didn't know the capabilities of.

She had to be the first person I took out.

With that in mind I kept walking. Still keeping my eyes peeled for the perfect moment to strike.

/

We had stopped for the night on the bank of a small stream. It was small enough that one could easily jump across it, but deep enough for smaller fish to swim in.

"Whats this?" Alex said with a grin. His hand elbow deep in my pack, after a moment he pulled out a familiar metal box.

I sighed internally, he must have found the secret pocket I had stored it in. Why he had been going through my things _now_, literally days after our capture was beyond me.

When he opened the lid, I could clearly see the way his eyes widened, made even more obvious in the iridescent light his features were suddenly bathed in. Apparently his loud voice had drawn the attention of the whole camp as suddenly everyone was crowding around the man looking down into the container.

Selma took it from his hand. Glancing at us appraisingly. "Just where did two young Demacian nobles like yourselves get their hands on these? I thought you Demacians hated magic?"

"I ...I found them in the river near our home … I thought they were pretty so I kept them." The stutter in my voice was quite real, as I was actually fearful of them discovering my magic, and had to come up with a convincing lie on the spot.

She snorted at my answer. "Pretty? What a spoiled brat you are. Turning such magical potential into a pretty collection?" She shook her head in disgust. "No matter. We will find some use for them, and if we can't, we'll just sell em to someone who can."

I sagged in relief as she bought my bullshit.

She started to tilt the container into her waiting palm. "I wonder how much we could get off of- AAGGGHHHHH!" The shift from speech to pained scream was so unexpected and so sudden that I flinched backwards hard enough to slam the back of my head into the tree I was leaning against. My vision blurred at the sudden impact. Suddenly an Icy gale buffeted my senses.

By the time my vision was clear, it was to find Selma clutching at her hand, her face contorted in obvious pain. Scattered about her I could see the glowing points points of light in the dirt, judging by how they were scattered it looked like she had thrown them away from herself.

"You knew that was going to happen didn't you? You little shit!" She snarled accusingly at me. The hand she was clutching had small wisps of smoke coming off of it. Her magic which had felt like a chilly wind, now felt more like a blizzard.

I looked at her with wide eyes, genuinely shocked at the sudden and unexpected turn of events. "I didn't know! It never hurt me before! I swear!"

She still looked murderous in her anger, but she seemed to calm down a touch at my obvious confusion. "Pick them up then." Her eyes bore into me, looking for any sign of a lie.

All that did was make me tense, I wasn't lying after all, I really had no idea that would have happened. I crawled my way to the nearest crystal. I slowly reached out, making sure to make no sudden moves with the angry Ice Mage practically breathing frost down my neck in her scrutiny. When I finally picked it up, I turned to look up at her, holding my hand up for her to inspect.

"You boy, come here." After making sure I wasn't somehow tricking her, she called Garen over. "Pick that up." She gestured to the crystal in my palm.

I tensed as Garen reached out to take it. I wasn't sure what would happen.

His apprehension was clear as he made to pick it up. We both sagged in relief when he managed to pick it up without any problems. He held it gingerly between his thumb and forefinger, as if afraid it would suddenly burn him too.

To be fair, I didn't even know why it didn't hurt him, I could make a few hypotheses as to why, but without testing them I couldn't be sure. But the reason didn't matter at the moment.

"Maybe it was just a one off?" Alex said as he stooped down to pick of the crystal by his feet. Only to straighten back up with a grunt, leaving it on the ground. "Or maybe not?" He said with a grimace, rubbing his finger slightly.

Suddenly Selma's hands were wreathed in an icy mist. She reached down and picked one of them up. The crystal making hissing and popping sounds as it reacted with her magic, she held the crystal up to the firelight seemingly unbothered thanks to her magic. "Don't know why it doesn't burn the two of you, and knowing magic as I do, I won't even bother trying to guess. But I'm sure someone will be interested in these stones."

With that said, she gathered up all the stones and dumped them back into the container. Stuffing it in one of her pockets.

She thought she had grabbed them all, but I could still feel one of them humming farther away from the camp. A quick glance showed it was coming from the stream. It must have been flung there. I bit my lip in thought, before coming to a decision.

"You missed one." My voice came out as more of croak thanks to my nervousness.

"What?" Selma looked at me in confusion.

Swallowing I tried again. "The stones, you missed one. When you threw them the first time I saw one fly off that way." I gestured to the stream.

She stared at me for a moment, I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she thought over my words. "Then go get it Girl. Be quick about it."

"Yes Ma'am." I got up quickly and made my way to the stream. I paused a moment at the edge of the water, taking a moment to silently curse as I realised I would have to enter the frigid water to retrieve it. Kicking off my shoes and rolling up my pants, I wadded into the water. Biting my tongue at the chill. Thankfully since I could sense it, it only took me a few seconds to retrieve it.

My feet and ankles were freezing as I made my way back to the warm fire, my shoes and the crystal in my hands. I held the crystal out to Selma as I passed her. I had to force myself not to flinch as her literally ice cold hands reached out to pluck it from my fingers. That short contact was enough to sap the warmth from my entire body. Suddenly wracked with uncontrollable shivers. I stumbled over to the fire. Trying to regain some semblance of warmth.

As I rubbed some feeling back into my arms I suddenly found myself wrapped in a thick wool blanket. The relief was immediate. I glanced behind me to find Selma already walking away. She spoke to the camp as she entered her tent.

"Now, I think that was enough excitement for one day. Lets get some sleep. I want to be well into the mountains by this time tomorrow."

Garen moved over and sat next to me by the fire, so I wrapped him in the blanket as well.

I could feel Garen's questioning gaze as he saw the slight upturn to my lips. I didn't dare explain, not with people in earshot.

This blanket was proof that my little bet had paid off. The more helpful and docile I appeared to be, the more at ease they would be around me.

The less guarded they were, the easier it would be to slit their throats.

/

I awoke to Alex kicking me non to gently in the side. "Wake up, were leaving."

I got up slowly, I was surprised to find that I felt tired. It was such a foreign feeling that it had actually taken me a few moments to place the sensation. The reason why was easily apparent. According to my magic, dawn was still a ways off.

After an hour of walking I felt the touch of sunlight. I nearly stumbled at the sudden rush. Garen looked at me with concern, but I just waved him off. I just needed a second to adjust. I had never walked around before dawn.

As usual the initial rush was relatively quick to fade away, leaving me with the usual feeling of boundless energy. I was grateful for the energy the sun supplied me with, we had walked well into the evening before taking the first break. Garen, who was older and more physically capable looked exhausted as he plopped down onto the dirt. Without the boost I got from the sun, I was sure I would have passed out miles ago.

The adults didn't even seem winded. Hell if anything it almost seemed like they were taking a break for our benefit rather than theirs. They had full camping gear, armor, and weapons on their person, yet they hardly looked phased at the harsh pace.

I could only attribute this to one of the quirks of this world. The creatures of this world seemed far more robust than those of my old world. Whether it was a result of the magic of the world, or a simple quirk of biology, I had no clue.

Me and Garen laid in the dirt side by side, just trying to save our energy. I noted with some surprise that the archer had chosen to sit next to us. She was a bit of an enigma honestly. Not only had I yet to hear her utter a word, but I hadn't even heard anyone say her name or even speak to her. If I didn't know better I would have said she was a ghost or something with the way nobody else seemed to even notice her.

Reaching into her cloak she pulled out a wrapped package, she held it out to me. Slowly I took it from her. I was delighted to find it was some left over rabbit and some berries. It wasn't much of a meal, but considering we hadn't eaten anything since waking up, it may as well have been a feast.

"Thank you." I said sincerely. She merely nodded before getting up and wandering off. I turned and shared the food with Garen, between the two of us it really wasn't much food and left us wanting more. But it was better than nothing.

I simply laid there, allowing the warm light to seep into me, slowly washing my aches and pains. After a while I sat back up, watching everyone doing their thing. My heart sped up as I took in the sight.

Alex appeared to be either meditating or praying, his axe was resting against the tree behind him. Edith was crouched off to the side seemingly inspecting some tracks in the dirt. The Archer had her bow unstrung, as she seemed to be in the process of replacing the string. And Selma was in the middle of eating, her back was to me.

This was the window of opportunity I had been waiting for. I gathered the magic in my body to my hands in preparation for what I was going to do.

_For what I was going to do…._

My mouth suddenly felt too dry, my breaths seemed oddly short. I couldn't bring myself to move my shaking hands. I was scared.

Of failure.

Of killing.

Of fighting.

Of things I couldn't even put words to.

I saw Garen in the corner of my eye, his eyes closed and breathes slow and even. My brother. The one I argued with on a daily basis. The one I smiled and laughed with just as often. My darling, loving, goofball of a brother. The one they intended on selling into the infamous Noxian fighting pits.

Slowly the fear I had been choking on had transformed into a searing rage. My magic blazing even fiercer beneath my skin.

I turned back to Selma intent on showing her my displeasure in one blinding display of power.

My hands froze mid rise. Even my rage was snuffed out, my magic not far behind.

Selma was now turned around, staring right at me. A look of concentration on her face. My senses warned me of what was coming, and I just managed to suck my magic back into my core as her magic reached me. Her icy magic brushed against me in an almost questing manner leaving goose bumps wherever the probing tendrils passed. One of them got too close to my pendant and was swallowed whole, its sudden disappearance caused the other ones to recoil.

She frowned at me in thought for a few moments, her gaze lingering on my necklace for a few moments before turning away.

Finally, with her attention not on me, I found myself able to breathe again.

I touched the necklace shakily. _Thank you Tianna._ Selma had felt my magic, but the necklace must have made her think it was her imagination or something. After all what kind of mage would wear a necklace made of petricite?

Then I realized what had happened, my heart sank. I clenched my hands in my lap, taking in everyone. The Archers bow was now strung, Edith had finished examining the dirt, and Alex was doing a routine with his Axe.

It was my hesitation that had allowed her to sense my magic in time. If I had just blasted her from the get go, she wouldn't have had the time to react. Now she was suspicious where before she was relaxed.

I had waited three days for the perfect opportunity.

I had finally received it.

And I had blown it spectacularly.

I wasn't sure if I would be getting another.

/

**As always pm/review if you have any comments, question, complaints, or ideas. I love talking with ****y'all. **

**So. What did you guys think about the new warriors cinematic? Personally I'm a little irked at the fact that Lux didn't do ANYTHING until the end. I mean at the least give her a sword and just have her get her ass kicked by the freljordian. Its better than her being in a battlefield awkwardly stumbling around and literally tripping on a rock. Then it could at least show her crownguard heritage, cuz im pretty sure she should at least know how to hold her own in a fight.**

**Her entire family line is full of warriors.**

**Her aunt is the personal guard/leader of the Kings guard Guard, before that she was the captain of the Dauntless Vanguard.**

**Her brother is the current Captain of the Dauntless Vangaurd.**

**Her father is a high ranking military officer.****I****ts even stated in her Lore that she has received Martial training before. Yet she looked like a lost duckling in that scene. On top of that she wears armor, indicating that she should also be carrying a weapon on her. Yet she is always weaponless? Why?**

**I****m not saying she would have beat the freljordian but at the least have her block an attack or two before having her fall on the ground. Like Bruh.** **It would have even made thematic sense since it shows that at heart shes a mage, not a warrior. So when she gets her ass kicked in melee then when she finally get her moment to shine, its her embracing what she is. A mage.**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

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	13. Chapter 13

**Astrogamer: Thanks for the insight! I fixed the accent I gave the Laurent family.**

**Xenocannon: I hope this chapter is what you were hoping for lol!**

**Guest: Glad you like it! If you ever have an idea or something feel free to leave it in a review or create an account and pm me!**

**...Last Guest review...Whoever you are. I am highly amused at your name. Fuk Yu, you left a rather elegant review "this sucks" I mean. One hand im a little sad you think it sucks. On the other hand however your name amuses me to much to feel sad lol. However next time please specify why it sucks so I can improve. Assuming you read this of course. This goes to everyone seeing this. If you don't like the story thats fine, but at least let me know why you don't like it? Otherwise it just leaves me scratching my head in confusion.**

**/**

**Chapter 13**

/

Pieter Crownguard was a man who followed his gut. He wasn't one who could be swayed by pretty words without merit. Perhaps, when he had been younger he had been more malleable, more easily swayed, more naive. But such things went hand in hand with youth.

It had been over a decade since he had last allowed emotion to push him into brash actions. This was one of the reasons he had climbed up the ranks so easily, it was what made him such a fearsome and successful commander. He could look at a battlefield and see the relevant information without being blinded by the horror of seeing his troops die.

That wasn't to say Pieter Crownguard didn't care for his troops, in fact if one was to mention such a thing in front of those under his command they would soon find themselves in a rather hostile environment. He cared for those under his purview, he cared a little too much according to some of his peers. But Ironically it was that fierce loyalty to his troops that allowed him to be so detached in his command. Anything less on his part would mean more deaths that could have been avoided, and he always did everything he could to make sure that when the mission was done, as many demacians came home as possible.

He had often wondered why she had chosen him, Augatha Crownguard could have picked anyone, such was her beauty, such was the power of her last name. And yet for reasons he couldn't comprehend she had chosen him. She had chosen him, a nobody. As the son of a lowly garlic farmer he had nothing to offer her, no political connections, no merchant contracts, no dowry to speak of. The only thing he could offer her was his love and his loyalty.

Unknown to him, it was his fierce loyalty that had drawn her eyes to him to begin with, it was hard for those in her position to find people who cared for the person and not the prestige that came with them. She had wanted someone she could honestly call a partner. Love had nothing to do with her choice, though it had eventually came as the years passed.

Garen was his firstborn, the boy shared Pieters brown hair and strong facial features. The day of his birth was one he wouldn't forget anytime soon. He had paced ceaselessly outside, recounting battle tactics to take his mind off his wife's seemingly endless screams. Eventually they stopped, and he found himself almost wishing she would keep screaming, if only to show him she was still alive. After a few heart wrenching seconds, a new scream came from the room. This one more shrill, and incessant. Some would even classify it as an unpleasant sound. But Pieter couldn't have found the sound more entrancing if he had tried.

He was ushered in by the exhausted matrons. His beautiful darling wife looked utterly exhausted almost on the verge of passing out with her blonde locks plastered to her head by drying sweat. To his eyes she had never looked more beautiful than in that moment.

He soon found himself holding a bundle of cloth, a little face framed in blue cloth. He felt almost light headed at the sight of the child, _his _child. And it was his without question, already he could see his nose and though he couldn't be sure he thought the child had his chin.

Three years later and he was back in the exact same scenario. The pacing, the screaming, the fear, and the eventual cry of a newborn. Even with prior experience he still found himself in shocked awe at the bundle of delicate life in arms. A daughter, where his son had been the spitting image of himself, he could clearly see this one had taken after his wife. Something of which he was thankful for, she would be a true beauty when she was grown. Intellectually of course he knew that all parents thought their children were the most beautiful, Pieter Crownguard _knew _his were the most beautiful. Anyone who said otherwise would find themselves in the dubious position of being his sparring partner for the day.

Even when he had found out she had been a mage, his love had not diminished in the slightest. If anything it had increased. The Mageseekers would have had his daughter branded as a danger to demacia, that her _affliction_ would have her corrupt Demacia. But he knew better, his daughter was pure, he could see it in her eyes when she smiled, he could hear it in the laugh she seemed so adamant in suppressing. His daughter was kind to everyone she met, be they servant or a random passerby in the street. She was intelligent beyond her years, managing to breeze through everything her tutors threw at her. If a fight was going to break out on the playground Lux would be there to talk circles around the arguing children, until the kids were so confounded that they thought it was their own idea to go back to playing instead of continuing the argument.

His daughter wouldn't corrupt demacia, she would cleanse it with her blinding inner light.

He loved his family more than he could put into words. His children were the apple of his eye. But this love didn't blind him. It made him see clearer.

When he had left his two kids in the woods, he hadn't done so without precautions.

This was why, three days after dropping them off he had been so shocked to find an empty campsite. The scout which he had left to watch over his children and allow them the illusion of independence lay dead in a ditch not too far off, what looked to be an arrow wound in his throat.

The shock hadn't even last a full second before he was back on the road and galloping to the nearest barracks. He needed troops and every damned tracker he could get his hands on.

Whoever took his children had better hope they were unharmed when he found them. If his kids had so much as a scratch on them, he would show them just how brutal a garlic farmers son could be.

/

"You know you two really have some shit luck." Alex jeered at us as we walked. We didn't bother responding, but he took our silence as his que to continue. "We were on our way back to Freljord when we found you. Just blind luck on our part, and bad luck on yours. The way the world works I suppose." He laughed uproariously, taking a swig from his water skin.

The mountains ahead were swiftly getting larger by the hour. After my failure that afternoon I had desperately looked for another opportunity. Unfortunately it seemed like Selma was starting to suspect something, I doubted even she knew what it was. But everyone seemed to be on higher guard than anytime in the previous three days. They had even gone so far as to talk exclusively in Freljordian.

I already knew thanks to Selma's proclamation the previous night that we were not stopping until we reached the mountains. Once we began to push into the mountain range I knew our chance of escape was much smaller. The mountains were almost completely barren, the few trees that managed to cling to life in that environment were thin and far between. No place to find cover, no place run too. We couldn't possibly outrun the much bigger adults in such open terrain, much less dodge arrows or spellfire. If we were to escape it would have to be before the night was over. And with the upped security I knew no opportunity would fall in my lap again, at least not in time.

I would have to make my own opportunity. During the hours since I had come to that realization I had been hard at work coming up with a plan. For our sake I hoped it worked.

/

We had stopped just inside the treeline, a few more paces forward and we would be officially out of the forest and on the mountain itself. I was glad for the cover of the canopy, as it was nearly essential to my plan. A few dozen feet forward and I would have been screwed.

I stared at the flickering flames of the campfire. A quick agitation of my magic and I could see the streams of orange particles that shot out in all directions from the fire, like a fountain. They grew fainter the further they traveled, disappearing from my sight, extending just a little further than where the light stopped to everyone else's eyes.

Though I knew from experience that if I did the magical equivalent of squinting I could see that they actually traveled even further. Doing so however was not only useless, but also left me with a rather unpleasant migraine that seemed to somehow throb throughout my whole body rather than just my head. Fortunately the plan I had come up with didn't require me to do so.

Closing my eyes I focused on those motes of power, feeling the way they pulsed with heat, light, and life. As they fluttered away from their source to illuminate the world around them, as they faded in power and finally unraveled into nothing. The little campfire was nothing in comparison to the blazing magic that radiated from the sun, or even the calmer light of the distant stars and moon. This is what made the canopy essential as it severely limited the amount of light that fell from the heavens, a few rays of moonlight made it through, but it was an inconsequential amount.

I wasn't even worried about Selma noticing what I was doing as controlling light used such a small amount of my magic that I quite literally couldn't tell I was using any. It was only when I attempted to amplify it that I felt my magic drain. I had only ever attempted this trick in my room with a candle, but the theory was the same. Just scaled up quite a bit.

With my eyes closed and my senses becoming more attuned with the light around me, I was almost ready to make my move. Finally after a few dozen calming breaths I was ready. The motes froze under my willpower, for a single beat I felt as they resisted me. But it was futile as I easily overpowered them after but a moment, the few motes of moonlight I had to deal with were much harder to manage, but in the quantity they were in, it was more than manageable.

Within seconds every bit of light in my sensing range was under my spell.

I commanded all of it to move to the center of the camp. A ball of pure light forming over the fire. Or at least it looked that way to me. For I had grabbed _everything_, and I was hoarding every bit of it above the campfire. To everyone else it appeared as though they were in a black void, I heard shouts of panic, and the sound of boots scuffling around the dirt met my ear. But I tuned it all out, in favor of maintaining the ball.

It was getting harder as time passed, more and more light was being added to it. The fire kept pumping out more, and the heavens never ceased.

After only five or six seconds I was nearing my limit, my head pounding something fierce at the amount of light I was now trying to keep under my control. I allowed the tiniest fraction of light to escape. The glowing sphere caught everyone's attention, after the sudden darkness, the barley visible glow drew the eye like nothing else. Just before I lost control of it, I clamped one hand firmly over Garens eyes, ignoring his struggling I put the other over my own. Just in time apparently as hardly a moment later the light finally managed to buck my will.

This time the screams were one of pain rather than panic. The moment the sudden cacophony of sounds met my ears, I removed my hands and gathered as much magic into my them as I could. I didn't stop until my hands felt like they were on fire with the amount of energy they were being forced to contain. Then I pointed my hands at the Selma who was still rubbing furiously at her eyes and let loose the gathered power in a condensed bolt of blinding magic.

Even blinded and in pain, Selma seemed to still be able to sense the magical build up, although it must have still distracted her quite a bit as she only reacted within the last second before I had finished gathering the power. She spun towards me, her cold magic a sudden blizzard of power to my senses.

To her credit she had managed to begin erecting some sort of ice wall in the split second it took for the bolt to leave my hands and reach her. Unfortunately for her, light was infinitely faster than her admirable reflexes. The wall had only managed to get up to knee height when it struck her. I watched her stand there a look of shock on her face, and a smoking hole in her chest the size of a fist.

By the time her body hit the ground the rest of them had recovered enough to realize what had happened. During their panic in the dark it seemed they had all drawn their weapons. This was made readily apparent when an arrow whizzed past my head, coming close enough to disturb my hair with its wake. The only reason I was still breathing had been due to the after images that had burned itself into her retina. I was so shocked at the near death that I had completely frozen.

I found myself yanked out of the way of a second arrow. Garen had grabbed my arm and was dragging us into the forest. More arrows followed us, thunking into trees, missing us by feet, or by inches, our only saving grace was that she couldn't see us in the dark forest, especially with her night vision shot to hell by my impromptu flashbang, most likely firing off of sound alone. The fact that she was still almost hitting us wasn't lost on me.

In the shock of my first kill, and subsequent near death experience I had allowed Garen to lead me through the forest. Honestly how he had managed to make it as far as he did without being able to see clearly was a miracle in and of itself. Unfortunately his luck eventually ran out, and I found myself tumbling alongside him down a small incline. We hit the bottom with matching grunts, during the fall our hands had separated. I was quick to get up, scrambling over to his form I pulled him to his own feet. He tried to drag me again, but this time I dug in my heels and held fast.

"Stop!" I hissed at him.

"Lux, we can't stop now! We have to-"

"I know! But if we don't stop now, you'll twist your damned ankle, then where will we be?" I cut him off quickly and hotly. I didn't have time to explain, so I brought my hands up and placed them over his eyes, ignoring his confused attempts to remove them. "Stop it Garen, i'm doing magic!" His hands ceased their movements.

I had to concentrate for this, and to be quite frank I wasn't sure if it would work as I had only ever done it to myself. I formed a bubble of my magic over his eyes, I gave the thin film a purpose.

_Amplify._

Slowly I removed my hands, focusing on it to see if the bubble began to unravel. It did, almost immediately, with a curse I grabbed his hand and focused, the direct contact making it much easier to manage the bubbles.

Garen let out a surprised gasp as he looked around the to him, suddenly much more visible forest.

"Can you see now?"

He glanced down at his free hand and flexed it before looking back up at me. "Yeah." He looked around taking in his environment with new eyes. "It's still kind of dark but I won't be tripping on any roots now."

I pursed my lip. That wasn't nearly as good as what I had hoped for, but so long as he wasn't at risk of breaking his neck anymore it would have to do. "Tell me if it starts to fade okay? I've never done this with another person before so im not really sure how long I can keep this up for."

With our hands linked we once more ran off into the forest. This time however I lead the way as my night vision was far better than the one I gave Garen.

As we ran I cursed my own stupidity. I had frozen, after killing Selma I had frozen. If I had gone with the plan, I would have killed the archer the moment I confirmed Selma was down. From there I would have taken the other two down while they were still getting their bearings. It would have worked, but I had frozen like a deer in the headlights, and now here we were running through the forest. Three angry killers on our heels.

A distant twang reached our ears moments before the arrow arrived. We both had good instincts, and we both jumped to the side to dodge. Me to the right, Garen to the left. Unfortunately, either she had predicted this reaction, or she had missed to begin with. For a second after the twang, I heard a wet thunk followed by a scream of pain from Garen. My eyes widened in panic as I ran to his prone form. The arrow lodged firmly in his thigh.

Blood gushing out around the shaft.

_Blood, Garen's blood. _

I felt faint at the sight. My vision swam for a moment. But only for a moment as a pained noise from Garen dragged me firmly back to the present.

I knew I wasn't supposed to remove the arrow. He would bleed out. We couldn't run now either, with his leg injured the way it was, not only would we be going at a snail's pace, he would also bleed out from aggravating the injury so much. But we couldn't stay here either, not with them so near, and especially not after they heard his cry of pain.

Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

I swore under my breath. My hand fluttering uselessly around the arrow. My thoughts racing a mile a minute. I yanked my shirt over my head, not having the strength to rip it into strips, I settled for using it whole cloth. It made a poor tourniquet with how thick it was, but I didn't have the luxury of making a better one. I could actually hear their footsteps now.

I bent down and whispered in his ear frantically. "Don't make a sound! Play dead!." I hoped he understood me and wasn't going into shock. I couldn't have them use him as a hostage. So long as he stayed silent and didn't move, they probably wouldn't even notice him.

I tiptoed away from Garen. I needed to draw them away from Garen before I even thought of engaging, and I would be engaging, with Garen unable to run I didn't have any other option. With a thought, I amplified the light around me, just enough to make sure they saw me run off, but hopefully not enough for them to realize I was even amplifying it. Hopefully, they would just pass it off as a cloud moving out of the way of the moon or something.

Sure enough within moments of using my magic, I had to duck as I heard a twang. Clearly, I had amplified the light a bit too much, as she had nearly landed a perfect headshot. I quickly dialed it back a bit and kept running, making sure to make as much noise as possible to ensure they didn't lose me.

After a minute of running I spun around, cutting off the amplification, and reversing it instead. Dimming the forest around me enough that it should have been impossible to distinguish bush from person. My head was starting to hurt something fierce after all this precise magic usage. Besides the rather large chunk of magic I was missing from taking out selma, my reserves were hardly impacted. I just wasn't used to such large scale micromanaging. Something I was clearly going to need to practice when this was over. By my estimation I had maybe four shots left before I was out of juice. I peaked around the trunk I was hiding behind, taking note of where they were. I had to force myself not to panic when me and Alex seemingly made eye contact. Thankfully though as I was the only one who could see clearly in this magically darkened forest, his eyes simply skipped over me.

The Archer and Edith were in front with Alex taking up the rear. They moved in a backwards triangle formation. The two in front being the only two who could track properly, and Alex just following along, his big axe in hand promising a messy but probably swift death.

I gathered my magic in my hands once more, my eyes focused on the archer. So focused in fact I didn't see when Edith pulled back, a knife in hand. Just as I was getting ready to let loose the bolt of magic, the knife cut along my arm. The pain threw my aim off and instead of punching a hole through the archer, I seared a glowing red smoldering dent in a thick tree.

With my cover blown I ran off. Clutching my wounded arm. _How had she seen me!? _I thought frantically as I ran. I glanced at my arm to inspect the damage. A thin cut ran along the length of my forearm. The sight sparked an epiphany. And for the upteenth time that night I cursed myself.

My magic usually wasn't visible, but in large concentration like when im charging a death beam for example. My skin glowed with the restrained power. How I could forget that was beyond me, and it had nearly cost me my life.

_No more mistakes! _I growled to myself. I had three shots left, and three targets. I couldn't afford to miss a single shot.

This time when I stopped I charged up my hands, accounting for the glow this time by doing the same trick with the campfire, but on a smaller scale. My hands were covered in small spheres of pure darkness, at least to an outsider. I aimed at the archer once more, this time with no glow to give me away, I was able to fire in peace. My aim was a little off, as it struck her in the shoulder, but I was fine with that. She wouldn't be firing that bow of hers anytime soon.

Seeing their comrade go down they ducked behind some trees. They peeked their heads out, but I refrained from firing. Opting instead to tiptoe closer to their position. I wanted a clear shot.

I must have made some sound as Edith lunged around the tree she was hiding behind, a knife already leaving her hand before I even registered her. It slammed into my shoulder, earning a shout of pain from me, luckily though it bounced off the bone rather than plunging into it. Thankfully I hadn't been charging up a shot or i'm sure the pain would have made me shoot it off into a tree again. She was running towards me, her bigger blades in hand. Alex followed right behind her.

I managed to get off one shot before they reached me. Edith falling over dead, a hole in her chest. Alex simply jumped over the tumbling body, and brought the axe down on my head. I leaped backwards, feeling the blade come close enough to leave a small cut along my abdomen. If I had been an inch slower, my guts would have been decorating the floor. He brought the axe up faster than I thought possible for such a large cumbersome looking weapon. I ducked, barely managing to avoid losing my head. Once more I leaped back from another strike. I dodged blow after blow, for the first time I truly was thankful of the training regiments my tutors put me through. If I had been raised in a different household, my almost nine year old body would have been killed several times over, in the past dozen or so seconds of frantic movement.

But still, I could feel myself slowing down. My child's body not having the stamina to keep up with the fully grown warrior. It happened, and if I was being honest, I was more surprised it hadn't happened sooner. In my frantic attempts to dodge, I couldn't spare a single glance backwards. So when I felt the cold bark press into my bare back, and the axe head flying towards my midsection, I knew it was over.

My magic apparently didn't get the memo however. I felt as every scrap of magic I had burst out of me in one painful burst. I fell to my knees from the pain of it, my skin felt burned and raw, and there was a ringing in my ears that wouldn't seem to fade. I glanced up, noting distantly through the pain that everything was dark. I tried to put magic into my eyes, and nearly doubled over at the agony that wracked through my body.

I rode through the waves of pain, my teeth firmly clenched. By the time it was over, the ringing in my ears had passed. Slowly I stood up, looking around the forest for Alex. As my vision adjusted to the low light I found him lying in front of me a dozen feet away. He wasn't moving, or making a sound. I wasn't sure if he was dead or not. Slowly, I made my way past him. I stumbled over towards Edith's body, getting down on my knees, I shuffled around until I found one of the knives she had dropped. I stumbled back over to Alex's still unmoving body.

I kneeled at his head, swallowing my fear I felt for his neck. I nearly recoiled in fear when I found the pulse. Having images of him suddenly waking up, acting quickly I slid the knife across where I felt the pulse. The warm spray of arterial blood was unexpected and caused me to fall back, futilely trying to rub the hot blood out of my eyes. I retched when I realized a rather large portion had landed in my mouth. The taste and smell of vomit did nothing to mask the blood and the scent of charred flesh. Instead, it seemed to mingle and create a new abomination. And once more I threw up. I stumbled away from the still-warm body.

I felt light-headed, and my muscles seemed to want to just stop working. It was only thoughts of Garen, bleeding out alone in the woods somewhere that kept me upright. I made my way to where I thought the Archer had fallen. I found her slowly trying to crawl away, her right arm was almost blown completely off, remaining attached by a strip of skin and a few tendons. She must have been delirious from the pain as she didn't even react to my loud approach.

For a moment I just stood there gazing down at her wriggling form, out of all of them this girl had been the nicest. Unlike the others of her group, I couldn't recall a single instance of her doing anything mean spirited, she hadn't spoken a word to us either, but she had been polite. For a few moments, I genuinely considered letting her go, allowing her to have a chance of surviving.

_Blood gushing out around the shaft._

_Blood, Garen's blood._

With clenched teeth and a renewed resolve, I made my decision.

Too tired for anything fancy, I simply allowed gravity to do the work for me as I landed on top of her, she squirmed and bucked weakly for a moment before I plunged the knife into the side of her neck.

I left her choking on her own blood. I was far too exhausted to care at the inhumanity of the act. And honestly? I didn't think I would have cared, even if I had been in a right state of mind. The bitch had shot my brother.

I stumbled my way back to where I had left Garen. By some miracle I made it. I could see the arrow that I had ducked. As I approached where I had left Garen. I froze, I could hear voices on the other side of the bush. The hand around my plundered knife clenched harder.

I wouldn't let them touch my brother.

/

When Pieter Crowngaurd came running into our Barracks that morning, I had been shocked. We were just some out of the way garrison, sure our job was important as we ensured nothing bad came through these parts. But a Crownguard? _The Head of the Crownguard family no less. _

It must have been a dream. I had thought.

I soon realized it was actually a nightmare when he told us in no uncertain terms that we were to go with him and hunt down some people that apparently kidnapped his children. Both his children...in an area we had reported to be safe, not even a week ago.

We were so fucked when this was over.

After an hour of riding our horses, the Crownguard signaled for us to stop. We left one of our men behind to watch the horses. The rest of us followed the Crownguard into the woods. All of us were experienced trackers in our own right. We had to be, to be given the positions we held.

The seven of us fanned out, looking for tracks, eventually, we found the trail. It was hard and we lost it a few dozen times, where someone in there party must have left false trails. Along the way we ran into abandoned camps, they had made an effort of covering up the fire pits, but the freshly upturned earth gave it away rather easily.

Eventually, we found a camp with the fire still burning. We approached with our swords out. Cautious of a trap we had yet to detect. It was all for naught as we found only a dead body, a woman with a hole burned almost all the way through her chest. Her armor and weapons marked her as a Freljordian, and the remains of a melting ice wall in front of her all but confirmed it.

We found a set of small prints running off into the forest, undoubtedly the two children. And judging by the three larger prints, they were being pursued.

From there the trail was easy to follow as they made no effort to conceal their tracks. They were straight sprinting in some parts. We found a small form lying on the ground, on closer inspection it was the boy. He was in a bad way seemingly unconscious, and the medic we brought with us went to work immediately, stabilizing the boy. While he worked, the Crownguard leaned down and picked up the makeshift tourniquet the medic had replaced. He held it up with shaking hands. It was a shirt. A very small shirt.

"This is Luxanna's." He whispered to himself.

"Don't worry sir. We will find her." Already we went to work looking for tracks. This time it was much harder, as it seemed she had stepped carefully. Probably trying to make as little noise as possible. judging by the rushed tourniquet and the careful foot steps that followed, she had probably been trying to draw them away from her brother. I said as much to the worried Crownguard, as I focused on the foot prints, approaching a bush she must have run straight through. Just as I got near the bush, I heard a twig snap on the other side of it.

With my sword already in hand, my muscle memory from countless training sessions took over. I chambered the strike, and when I saw the shape leap out from behind the bush. I was already swinging. By the time I realized what I was doing, it was already too late.

I watched in horror as my sword made its way to the neck what I could only assume was the girl in question judging by her small stature, and shrillness of her scream. I watched as her arm came up and I saw sparks fly. In her hand she held a big knife. A knife she used to deflect my sword. So Instead of taking her head off, it passed harmlessly over her head.

I felt myself go slack with relief.

Then the screaming little girl was in my guard.

I blinked as the realization dawned on me.

The screaming little girl, with a rather large knife, was in my guard.

Luckily it seemed she didn't realize I was wearing a breastplate and the knife simply skidded off. I dropped my sword and made a grab for her wrists. I caught them, gripping her small wrists tightly, wary of the knife she still held. Little hellion or not, I easily lifted her off ground at arm's length. All the while she kicked, screamed a snapped her teeth at me.

"Lady Crownguard! Stop fighting! Your safe! We mean you no harm!"

Still she bucked, writhed, and kept screaming. Showing no signs of so much as hearing me.

As I held her I realized she was screaming words. The same thing over and over again.

"Get away from him! Get away from him! Get away from him!"

All the while she never once stopped trying to escape my grip.

Pieter ran over and practically ripped the girl out of my grasp. A gauntlet covered hand gripping the knife by the blade. He held her close to himself, murmuring in her ear.

Eventually after a few struggle filled moments the girl seemed to relax. Going completely limp in his arms.

/

**AN: This is my first time trying to use other perspectives in this story. What do you guys think? Should I continue doing that or only write purely from Lux POV? **

**Just as a reminder, this is pretty much the first time she has ever come to fighting human opponents. In fact, this is her second time using her magic in a combat scenario. Some of you may be disappointed that Selma went out like a chump, but that's what combat is. It doesn't matter how skilled you are. If they get the drop on you. You die. Or to be more accurate I will quote a very wise man I know.**

"**People die if they are killed."**

**Leave a review or pm if you have any ideas, comments, or complaints. I love hearing and talking with y'all.**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Response to Reviews**

HuangBaiLian: As you can see, their sibling bond is still intact.

Xenocanaan: I pm'd you the answer. I won't say it here cuz I dont wanna spoil everyone.

Rinto: Isn't it just? Lol Shirou Emiya is truly the wisest man I know.

/

**Chapter 14**

/

Tanya grew up in one of the out of the way villages on the border, so small and out of the way that it wasn't even large enough to garner a proper name. It was simply 'The Village' to its inhabitants. They subsisted off of their own crops and only ever interacted with the rest of Demacia when the taxman came through, or even the occasional traveler. It was a coin toss really, which was more likely to stumble upon their little slice of civilization.

She had lived a rather peaceful life, some might even have called it idyllic. For fifteen years she had lived in that peaceful little village. In such a small village everyone knew everyone. And in that particular Village, Tanya would have been considered the Village sweetheart. Perhaps in other places she would have been average, but with such a small community and by extension competition, she might as well have been the prettiest woman in the world.

By the time she was twelve she had already had a marriage proposal agreed to. Her husband to be was the blacksmith's son, and he was a very well mannered young man a little plain in the looks department, but he was kind to a fault. They were to be wed on her sixteenth birthday.

She never had the chance to be a wife. The option was taken from her one midsummer day. One moment she was laying in a field of flowers talking with her friends, the next she was running down a dirt road with the village burning behind her.

With how small her village had been, they had hardly any soldiers stationed there. Six, perhaps seven if one was desperate enough to count Old Tom, but he had long since retired after decades of service and could hardly hold his fork steady any longer, let alone a sword.

So when a threat bigger than a disgruntled drunk appeared, the veneer of protection those soldiers provided shattered like fine pottery.

In all fairness those soldiers had tried, truly they had given their all.

But when those chittering screeching _things_ came skittering from over the south wall. There was nothing to be done. Dozens upon dozens of them poured over the wall, and if they had been normal animals the soldiers might have even been strong enough to repel them. But these horrors didn't have petty things like fear, or survival instincts to hold them back. Their ceaseless hunger pushed them onward, when their fellows were slain they pushed onward still, even when they had been impaled on several feet of sharpened steel they did not stop.

To the last man they had tried, and to the last man they had died.

Tanya the sole survivor was found miles from her village of origin, bare feet bloody and raw. The ones who found her were none other than Tianna Crowguard and her battalion, they had been in the process of reinforcing one of the border forts when they came across her.

Upon seeing the mass of gleaming Demacian steel, Tanya had collapsed in front of the shocked party. Begging them to ride to her villages aid, barely having the energy for even that much. She rode with one of the soldiers leading them back to her village.

By the time they got there, it was nothing but a burnt-out husk. No creatures to fight, no people to save. Not even any bodies to recover, only a faintly glowing purplish residue acting as proof of the attack.

Upon seeing the residue, Tianna ordered everyone to leave after a quick search for survivors, leaving explicit instructions for no one to touch the glowing slime. She had ordered her soldiers to head to the nearest town and bring every ounce of salt they could find. Once they had returned they proceeded to rather liberally spread the salt on the ground in and around the village.

Tanya was in so much distress at her home being destroyed she was nearly catatonic. Perhaps taking pity on the broken girl, Tanya was offered a place in the Crowguard staff.

Tanya was fifteen when she first came into the Crownguard families service. By her count she had served them faithfully for a little over twenty three years now.

Her initial joining of the staff had been one born of tragedy and happenstance. It wasn't a glamorous job, in fact some might have even called it demeaning. Waiting hand and foot on others, cleaning up after them and the like. But for Tanya it was wonderful, after having everything she had ever known be ripped away from her, such a simple and straightforward lifestyle was something she was more than willing to embrace.

So when they got word that Lord Crownguard and his kids had arrived back in Silvermere and that both children were injured she was rightfully worried. She had after all known the two kids since they were born, her along with the other servants helped look after them whenever their parents were busy, and considering their workload it was alarmingly often.

The whole staff was there to greet Pieter when he entered the estate. Quickly easing the soldiers carrying the two children of their burdens, whisking them off to their respective rooms.

Gently Tanya placed Luxanna in her bed, taking a moment to study her charge. If she hadn't known this was Luxanna she wouldn't have been able to tell, not with the head-to-toe bandages she was wrapped in. There must have been some sort of salve or something coating the inside of the wraps as a cloying minty scent clung to her. She sat in the chair in the corner of the room waiting worriedly for someone to come by and give her directions. Until then, she would keep a vigilant watch over the girl, unsure how dire her wounds were and wanting to be ready in case something changed.

/

I tried my best not to squirm as she rubbed the ointment into my back. It left a soothing numbness as it seeped into my skin.

"Thank you Tanya." I sighed as she finished. Deciding to just lay there instead of shrugging into the provided robe. I would rather just wait for my skin to completely dry so I didn't smear it all over the cloth.

"It's no problem at all Luxanna. Please call me if you need anything else. I will be right outside." Tanya bowed slightly as she left the room.

As the door clicked shut, I couldn't help but smile fondly at the wood. During the first few days, she had been almost smothering in her desire to help. All but refusing to leave my sight for more than a few seconds at a time. In some ways, she was almost more of a mother than my actual mother. While Mom had been worried about me she had only stopped by a few times a day for a few minutes at a time. I couldn't fault her for it as I knew how busy she was this month.

I groaned as I sat up, even with the ointment my skin still felt tight and mildly uncomfortable. I stiffly walked over to the mirror. Every inch of skin I could see had a distinct pinkish hue to it, almost shiny in some places. While that final uncontrolled burst of magic had saved my life, it had also managed to burn the entirety of my epidermis. Thankfully though damage was just skin deep. Even more thankfully the multitude of physicians who had been summoned to treat me said the burns were minimal enough that so long as I followed their guide to skincare and used the provided ointments as instructed, it should heal without any permanent scarring.

My gaze was drawn to the outlier on my skin, a jagged red line on my shoulder where Edith's knife had struck, a smaller but similar gash was on my forearm. An even smaller nick was visible on my stomach, a parting reminder of how close I had been to being disemboweled by Alex's axe.

Memories of that night played behind closed eyes as the sight of the scars brought them back to the forefront of my mind. I clenched my slightly shaking hand into a fist, the bite of my nails bringing me out of it. I stumbled away from the mirror and into a chair by the window, the sunlight doing more to calm me than anything else.

I sighed wearily as I took in the sight of the courtyard below me. A figure down there swinging a sword caught my attention. My eyes narrowed, and I quickly put on the robe and slippers, ignoring how my skin protested the sudden movements..

I had an idiot to go yell at.

/

"Garen!" I yelled as I stormed down the small set of stairs.

The sword in his hand slipped from his grasp mid-swing, sending the practice blade flying into a nearby bush. He whirled around in surprise, causing him to fall to the ground.

Any desire to scold him more instantly fleeing at the sight of his pained expression. "Damnit Garen!" I hurriedly made my way to his downed form. "You took an arrow to the leg not even a week ago. You shouldn't be walking around, let alone practicing your swordsmanship!" I growled as I kneeled next to him, checking the white wrap around his thigh for any spots of red. "Your lucky you didn't open it back up, you idiot."

Garen took my offered arm with only a bit of reluctance. "I need to keep in shape. I can't lose my edge. Only one more week until I enroll into th-"

"No." I glared at him. "You're not going with that leg, you will just make it worse."

He blinked at me, shock and confusion clear in his eyes. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm going!" His voice raised in incredulous anger towards the end.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am." He gritted out.

"No. You. Are. Not." I glared at him, daring him to say something stupid.

His mouth opened, and by the way his brow was drawn I had no doubt in my mind what he was about to say. Fortunately for him someone else spoke up.

"What are you two yelling about?" Dad spoke from the doorway. No doubt someone had gone to inform him when I had marched down the hall ignoring the many people who told me to not exert myself. _Honestly. I wasn't even injured, at least not compared to Garen anyways._

Me and Garen seeing an opportunity spoke hurriedly at the same time. Both of us pausing at the confusing jumble of words, we tried again, this time louder as if that would somehow help matters.

Dad for his part just rolled his eyes to the sky and sighed. "One at a time please?"

We were silent for a moment, me and Garen just looking suspiciously at each other. I turned back to Dad and started talking, obviously I should have been the one to speak first. Apparently Garen had the same mindset as once more we were trying to talk over each other.

Dad finally having enough, clapped his hands and roared over us. "Enough!" We went silent at our fathers palpable annoyance. "Garen, you go first."

I opened my mouth in protest, but a glare from him had my mouth clicking shut on it own.

"Lux said I wouldn't be going to the Academy next week."

He turned to me. "Is that true Lux?"

Suddenly not feeling as sure of myself under his gaze I fidgeted a bit as I answered. "Yes Father."

"Why?"

My brow furrowed. "What do you mean why? Look at him, he's hurt."

Dad just nodded. "Yes, he is. But that doesn't mean he can't still attend the academy." He held his hand up to forestall any complaints. "There are other courses at the academy besides how to swing a sword Lux. He can still attend his classes like any other student. Obviously until he is healed he will be given less labor intensive exercise in his more combat oriented classes."

I bit my lip, trying and failing to find a way that Dad was wrong. "I guess." I spoke slowly, not liking the taste of being wrong.

His big hand rested on my head causing me to look up at him. "It's good that you want to look out for your brother, but he _is _going to be a soldier. He will need to stand on his own sooner or later."

I didn't like it, but I nodded nonetheless. I didn't have to like it, I only needed to accept it for there was nothing I could do to refute or change that statement.

/

On the last day before he was set to leave for the capital, I found myself standing outside his door in the middle of the night. Steeling myself I opened it slowly and tip toed towards his bed.

"Garen." I hissed at him.

He just grumbled in his sleep, turning away from me.

Not having the patience I grabbed his shoulder and shook it firmly. "Garen!" I hissed louder.

He stared at me in confusion. "Lux?"

"Yes, now get up." I tugged his blanket off of him.

"Wha-" I clamped a hand over his mouth.

"SHHH! Not so loud. Do you want to wake up everyone?" Once I was sure he understood my desire for quite I removed my hand.

"What do you want?" This time his voice was much softer.

"I want to show you something."

"Can't it wait till morning?"

"No."

Seeing I wasn't gonna budge he got out of bed with a sigh. I led him to the balcony, opening it and walking out onto it. He followed me with a shiver at the cold air.

"You're going to be gone for a long time. We might not even see each other for years even." I turned back to him, looking him in the eyes. "And I don't want your last memories of my….magic.." It was hard to say the last word out loud after all the time I spent trying to hide it. "...to be _that._" I didn't need to specify what I meant by _that_, the smell of scorched flesh still seemed to clog my nose. Judging by his small flinch I knew I didn't need to elaborate.

"Magic isn't _just _destruction. It can be beautiful too." With those final words I gestured up at the sky.

Although I wasn't looking at him, I could hear his gasp of surprise.

The night sky which was already a breathtaking sight without all the pollution of my last life, was now awash with stars and colorful bands of nebulas never before seen.

Amplifying light was something I could do with minimal effort. It was almost as natural as breathing for me. It was something I had grown so used to. Something I had nearly taken for granted.

But judging by the wide eyes and slack jaw of my brother. It was more than enough.

/

The twig burst into flame as it passed through the brightly glowing yellow wall. I frowned in annoyance at the sight. Leaning over I picked up another piece of wood. Allowing the wall to dissipate before readying my arm for the throw. Just as the small bit of dry wood left my hand I focused on the light around me, condensing it as much as I could into a wall a few feet in front of me.

Once more the twig passed through it, instantly catching fire. Though I noted that this time the twig had lost some momentum as it passed through the barrier. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was better than nothing.

Condensing light to the point that it formed a hard surface was pretty easy actually. The problem I was facing now was the speed in which I could do it. Normally it would take me at least five or six seconds to make one firm enough to bounce a rock off of. My current exercises goal was to increase the speed in which I could form the barrier, trial by fire and all that. Eventually, through sheer repetition eventually I would get it.

If I had mastered it beforehand I might have been able to simply block the arrow that had struck Garen. Though if I was honest with myself, I wasn't even sure if it would have blocked an arrow if I had an hour to make the shield. Considering I could only make a shield a few feet away from myself, at such a close range it would have been a very poor idea to try shooting an arrow at it. Trying to explain where I ran off to with Starfire was hard enough as it was, trying to explain why I had an arrow stuck in me would have been impossible.

After half an hour of doing the same thing over and over I eventually ran out of sticks to throw. Sitting against a boulder, I relaxed my body, taking in the the high rocky walls on either side of me. I had found the place nearly two months ago, it wasn't quite a cave as I could see the sky a few dozen feet above and was far too small to be a canyon or a valley, I had searched for a while in the library for the correct term but had found nothing. But most importantly it was off the beaten path, taking nearly ten minutes of continuous walking before one saw the small crack in the mountainside that served as an entrance. It was the perfect place to practice my magic in private.

As much as I liked our family garden, that place had far too much flammable material for my taste. Especially since my magic involved quite a bit of heat. The rocky little alcove I had stumbled across was far more suited to my needs.

My magic reserves were now very low after all that practice. I didn't think I had enough in me for more than four, maybe six more shield attempts, and that was only if I was willing to feel like shit afterwards. Knowing from experience what would happen if I completely expended my reserves I opted to just stop the exercise altogether. But I wasn't expected back for another hour at most, so I resolved myself to get as much magic training done as possible.

Taking out a book I opened it and set it against the far wall before resuming my spot against the boulder. I squinted at the pages, it was barely a dozen feet away, but the small words might as well have been solid black lines for all the good it did me. Using my magic I tried to make a lens of sorts in front of me. Trying to bend the light in such a way that the indecipherable scribble would become bigger, easier to read. I knew it was possible, if a curved peice of glass could accomplish it, I would be damned if I couldn't do it with magic.

A patch of air barely a foot across distorted heavily, rippling like there was a heat wave in front of me. As I fine tuned the distortion, the book apeared to stretch and warp on the other otherside, the words were now actually distinguishable instead of the solid black lines it had been moments prior.

Just as I finished reading the first sentence, the world snapped back into its normal focus. Like a rubber band pulled too taught my magic snapped. I could feel it in my whole body, it throbbed like a migraine, intense vertigo rocked my frame, and I bit my tongue to steady myself. I sat against that rock waiting for the feeling to pass. After a few more minutes it finally abated.

I groggily straightened out of my slump, berating myself. After so much practice I knew the warning signs and yet I had pushed onward anyways. I was only mollified by the fact that I was making undeniable progress through the suffering.

When I had first attempted that particular trick, I had collapsed from the magical feedback before even a single word was legible. Now after a few weeks, I could read a full sentence.

The ride back to High Silvermere was a quiet one. Starfire was as happy as ever to be running around once more, her leg finally fully healed. The Guards greeted me warmly as I passed through the gates. Dismounting I walked starfire across the length of the bridge that spanned the waterfall, watching to the right as the water cascaded out of sight. I was glad I wasn't scared of heights because then I would probably never have been able to leave the city. Thankfully I wasn't though, and was able to fully enjoy the scenic view.

Not for the first time I found myself wondering why in the world someone had decided to construct a city in the center of a waterfall. On the surface it seemed like it would be an impregnable bastion in the face of siege, with only two bridges serving as entrances, archers could pick off any army that approached. Even if the invaders decided to just lay a siege instead, the city had enough farms inside its walls to last almost indefinitely.

A screech from high above drew my attention to the surrounding mountains. Built into the cliff face high above was another reason a siege would never really work. The Silverwing Aviaries, for there were indeed multiple of the structures scattered around on the different cliffs surrounding the city. Each of these structures housed at least a dozen of the Silverwing Raptors and their riders. Raptors were massive creatures, big enough to pick up a man in each talon. They looked like what I imagined a dragon would. If a dragon had feathers instead of scales, and a beak instead of teeth.

With those winged beasts Demacians could take to the sky. And in a world where human flight was still a rarity, it was an advantage Demacians exploited ruthlessly. As either invaluable scouts, or as a way to harass enemy lines in the midst of a battle, even as simple messengers. They were so highly regarded by Demacia that the motif of a Raptor was used as the Crownguard Crest.

Sieges dont really work if the enemy can just fly over your blockade.

I handed the reins to a familiar stable boy as I got into the city. Normally I would have taken Starfire myself, but Mom had told me that morning she wanted to talk to me when I got back.

A quick bath and a change of clothes came first however. I knew how tetchy my mom could be about such things.

As I walked through the halls to my Moms study, I couldn't help the frown that marred my features. Even after a full year, I couldn't help but note how empty the place felt without Garen. He had been a near constant presence since I had been reborn into this world. I felt his absence keenly. I knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in." She answered promptly. "Ah Lux. Good timing I just finished." Putting a sheaf of papers aside she turned back to me, gesturing to the chair.

"So you wanted to talk about something?" I spoke as I settled into the chair. Luxuriating in the relief that flowed from my stiff lower body.

"Your nearly ten years of age Lux." She stared at me expectantly, as if that statement would somehow clear things up.

"...Yes?" I wasn't really sure what she expected me to do with the reminder.

"The age to enter Dawnhold is Ten. And the enrollment date is just after your birthday."

I blinked, the Academy of Dawnhold was the most prestigious place of learning in all of Demacia. Unfortunately despite its prestigious nature it was treated as more of a meeting spot for young people of import. It catered exclusively to the Sons and Daughters of the influential. Nobles, Merchants, even a few of those from outside of Demcia attended. Though most of the foreign ones were from merchant families rather than nobles.

"With the good word from your tutors, I'm sure they would be more than willing to have you attend."

"...yes…?" I had to resist the instinctive snort of amusement, I was sure they would have allowed me entrance even if I couldn't do basic addition, if only to add the Crownguard name to its growing list of alumni. Finally my mind caught up with what she was saying. "Wait. Why would I be attending Dawnhold? What's wrong with the private tutors?"

"The '_private'_ part is what's wrong." She looked at me sternly. "Lux. You don't have any friends."

I opened my mouth to respond to her ridiculous statement. "What are you talking about? Of course I have friends!"

She raised a blonde brow. "Really? Name one-" Just as I began to say a name she continued. "-within five years of your age."

My mouth opened and closed. My mind stalling, for some reason I couldn't think of any names that fit that criteria. Slowly I could feel a pit forming in my stomach. _She couldnt be right could she? I had friends didn't I? _Mind racing I went through what I was beginning to realize was a distressingly small list of people I felt close enough to call a friend. Almost all of them were either cousins, servants, or tutors I was fond of. None of them met the criteria that my mom had put forth.

My eyes lit up as I found one. "Sona!" I crowed proudly, only to wilt under my moms gaze.

"Sona? As in the Sona Buvelle? The girl you send letters to?" I nodded and she continued. "The girl you haven't seen in person for almost two years?" This time I couldn't meet her gaze as I nodded meekly. "You're going to Dawnhold Lux."

I sighed in defeat as I slumped into my chair. It wasn't my fault everyone near my age growing up had been so immature. It most certainly wasn't my fault that everyone near my mental age was just under three times my biological age.

It wasn't like I could explain that one to her. So I nodded dejectedly instead, accepting her ruling.

"If it makes you feel any better I heard Sona will be attending Dawnhold as well this semester."

At my confused look she elaborated. "Since she was adopted into the Buvelle household she didn't have the prior tutelage to attend when she was ten. So she will be in the same year as you."

I brightened a bit at that. At least I wouldn't be totally alone there.

/

It took over a week of constant riding to reach the Academy. Well in my case it was actually constant sitting. Apparently it was considered uncouth for a young lady such as myself to ride horseback. As such I was crammed into a carriage and forced to watch the countryside go by. Needless to say, I wasn't in the best of moods for the duration of that trip.

Why anyone would care about such things was dumbfounding. I was a Crownguard damnit! My Aunt was the leader of the Dauntless Vanguard! Yet apparently me riding a horse was considered to be in bad taste? The hypocrisy of Noble society never ceased to amaze me.

The best part about the whole thing was that I was allowed to ride my horse once I was there. Just not on approach, it had something to do with first appearances being everything or some such nonsense. I understood it in principle sure, but that didnt mean it wasnt fucking stupid.

A knock from the front of the carriage drew my attention, leaning over I slid the small door to the side allowing me to talk to the driver. "Lady Crownguard." He greeted, "We're an hour away from the Academy."

"Thank you Bernard." I closed the hatch. I shrugged out of my clothes, and shimmied into the uniform all academy students were expected to wear. A black knee length skirt with silver trimming along the edge, and a white button up with red accents. There was a black jacket with large silver buttons, but it wasn't mandatory in the summer. Well made black leather shoes, white socks, and a pair of white gloves completed the ensemble.

While I wasn't the biggest proponent of skirts, so long as they didn't expect me to walk in heels I was more than willing to keep my mouth shut on the matter.

Before too long the boring countryside was replaced with roadside inns, and taverns. Soon the few scatterings of buildings were replaced with true civilization. A few more minutes and we were truly in the town of Dawnhold. Whether the town burgeoning on becoming a full blown city was named after the Academy at its heart, or if the Academy was named after the town was unknown to me.

All I knew for certain was that I was fascinated by all the different styles of architecture I could see out the window. If Demacia had a melting pot it would be this place. It was a port town, and as such it flourished from all the trade that flowed through its docks. This influx of goods also brought with it an influx of people.

Everywhere from the hot deserts of Shurima, to the icy tundras of Freljord. This could be clearly seen in the differing architecture, as people came into the city over the years, they brought with them their own artistic tastes. This ended up with the city being a mish mash of different building styles. It was all so different from the boring white and blue stonework of Silvermere that I couldn't stop my eyes from darting from building to building. Some of the buildings even combined a mix of the different styles, creating a unique style all its own.

Eventually we stopped in front of the Academies Gates. Saying my goodbyes to Bernard and the retinue of Guards assigned with escorting me from Silvermere. Knowing someone would come to take my stuff to my room, I made my way up the steps. The Guards along the way made no move to stop me thanks to my attire.

Finally reaching the top I leaned on the railing to catch my breath, allowing myself to take in the view. From this high up a good portion of the port town was visible. Off to the right was an endless expanse of blue. I felt an odd niggling in my chest at the sight. It had been over ten years since I had last seen the ocean. As a former California resident I had reasonably high standards when it came to beaches. I dearly hoped that Dawnhold would meet them.

/

I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed as I walked around the campus. While the the town below had been a breath of fresh air, the Academy was proving to be the same stale white and blue. Despite the color palate and architecture choices, I had to admit that I was impressed. This place probably could have passed for a college in my old life. Granted it was way too small by my world's standards, but for this world? It was more than adequate. It managed to not only house hundreds of students in dorms, but also had the facilities to educate them all. Considering the student body was made entirely of the elite of this world, this was especially impressive since everything had to meet their generally spoiled standards. From food to dorm size, everything was accounted for.

The paper I had been given on arrival said I needed to go to the headmasters office. Since I doubted he had the time to chat with every new student to grace these halls and since I had not been on campus long enough to have gotten in any trouble, I assumed it had more to do with my last name than anything else. After asking a few passing students I managed to get directions to his office.

As I walked through the halls, I heard a commotion coming from the hall to my left. The Headmasters Office was further down the hall I was currently in. There was no need for me to go down that hall with the raised voices. I was contemplating ignoring it and continuing on my way when I felt _it._

Magic. It wasn't a cold wind like Selmas had been, no, this one was more like...sound. It was something that I could _feel_ and _hear. _But not with my ears. It reminded me almost of the sensation one gets when they stand next to loud speakers. The 'sound' if one could call it that, seemed to resonate inside me while thrumming outside me simultaneously.

I could feel magic coming from down that hallway. Not willing to pass up the opportunity I followed it to its source. The commotion and the source of the magic seemed to be one and the same.

A group of kids were huddled in a corner at the end of the hall. Seemingly standing around the source of the magical sound. As I got closer I could hear there words more clearly.

"-just because she took pity on you, you belong here? That _you're_ one of _us?_"

Whoever they were talking to didn't respond, or did so quietly enough that I couldn't make it out.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll drop out by the end of the wee-"

Hearing enough, and finally being close enough I spoke up. "Hey!"

The group of people all whirled around, eyes wide. They had been so focused on whoever it was they were bullying that they hadn't even heard my approach. Their tense frames relaxed as they took in my uniform. Or more specifically the red accent on my shirt which marked me as a first year. Their own accents were bright orange signifying a higher rank, though I wasn't sure which.

The center girl smiled at me. "Your new here so I will cut you some slack since you obviously don't know how things work around here. So why don't you go back to wherever it is you came from huh?"

I shook my head slowly. "I can't do that, sorry. My family would be disappointed in me if I simply walked away."

Her smile became more strained, edging towards a sneer. "Oh? And who's your family?"

"My fam-"

"Oh wait! I don't care!" She interrupted me, this time not even bothering to make an effort of hiding her contempt. "I mean honestly? Why would I Bianca Delacour care about your pissant little family?" Her friends laughed at that. Distantly I recognized her last name, it was the name of a very successful merchant house.

I just stared at her in silence. After years of being treated in a deferential manner thanks to my last name, it was quite jarring to be treated like this. To be openly laughed at and derided was almost a foreign concept to me by this point. It drove home just how spoiled I had become in this new life.

My silence must have been taken for something else however as she continued to jeer. "Aww are you gonna cry little girl? Now that you know who you are talking too?" As she bent over to get closer to my eye level she allowed me to see who was behind her.

The source of the magic had shoulder length blue hair and wide blue eyes. Though the person had changed in the last two years, her unique hair color made her easily recognizable to me.

The person they had been bullying was Sona.

'_Oh.' _

I turned back to the still talking girl. Slowly I began pulling off one of the gloves. The girl obliviously still going on her tirade.

She was still flapping her lips when the glove flew through the air and smacked her in the face. Finally it seemed that was enough to finally shut her up.

"For the dishonor you have shown both my family and the Buvelles, I challenge you to a Honor Duel Bianca Delacour."

Her face went through varying shades of purple before she reigned in her emotions enough to speak. "An Honor Duel? Who do you think you are little girl?" Her voice shook with rage and incredulousness.

"Luxanna Crownguard." I took a moment to allow that to sink in, taking a bit more joy from their slowly whitening faces than was probably healthy. "Now let's go to the arena. C'mon Sona."

She brushed past the shocked kids and to my side. She was shocked at my unexpected arrival and actions but she still shot me a small smile.

As we made our way down the hall, leaving the still paling kids behind. I glanced down the hall I knew lead to the Headmaster's Office. I hoped he wouldn't mind the delay.

_I had a little girl to beat up first._

I sighed internally, I really never thought I would ever think those word before.

A quick glance at the bluenette at my side just reaffirmed my resolve.

As my mom had so annoyingly pointed out. I didn't have that many friends in this life. I would be damned before I let the few I did have be treated like that.

Those brats had made it personal.

/

**AN: Hello! I hope y'all liked the chapter! If you have any comments, ideas, complaints, etc etc. Feel free to PM or Review. I love talking with y'all**

**Dawnhold is an actual place in Demacia, however, the Academy is something I made up. I'm sure they do have an academy for nobles/rich people. But I couldn't find the name of such an institute.**

**Silverwing Raptors are also quite real. Unfortunately, those creatures and their riders had completely slipped my mind. Lol, well better late than never. Everything I had said about them is canon including them being the Crownguard Crest. The animals do indeed live in the mountains near High Silvermere. The actual location of their headquarters is at the top of High Silvermere. However in the concept art there are structures on the surrounding cliffs, so I have turned those into the homes for those creatures. It makes more sense than having giant flying carnivores live inside the city itself.**

**In case you didn't understand that scene with the burning sticks. She was trying to perfect making force fields on command. A concentration of light dense enough to be solid, even with magic should be pretty damn hot. And until she masters it, any barrier she makes will be scorching hot. Until she can figure out how to lower the temperature while keeping it solid at least.**

**So what do you guys think of the POV shifts I've been trying for the past two chapters? No one complained about the last chapter so im assuming its fine?**

**Anyone able to figure out what it was that destroyed Tanyas Village from the clues I left behind? First person to guess correctly will get a gold star! lol, not really but it's the thought that counts right?**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	15. Chapter 15

**I will start by saying that DarkAnon guessed it right. The creatures that attacked Tanyas village were void creatures, hence the purplish glowing residue. Salt is the only known way of inhibiting Void related things from spreading. Since the void needs to consume life to spread, the best way to contain it is to ensure no life grows near it.**

**So Im in a bit of a dilemma. I just realized that I got the age gap wrong between Garen and Lux. In the lore she is younger than him by at least 5 years, possibly 6 or even 7. In my story I have it as three years. **

**Should I go back and change it?**

**They released an actual canonical Timeline for the lore After I started writing this story, so the information I had been using was on pure speculation/headcanon/reddit posts. **

**HuangBaiLian: **Glad you liked the POV shifts so far.

**SingNonomori: **No he is at the military Academy.

**Raphaim: **Hands were thrown.

**Xenocanaan: **Wait no longer my friend.

**Lull Meister: **Your right, the names Tanya and Tianna are a bit too similar. I will let you pick the name.

**DankAnon: **DING DING DING! We have a winner! He gets a Gold Star. It's official, and will be mailed post haste. I won't comment on the Sylas thing cuz I consider it a spoiler if I say anything regarding that.

**InNeedOfTP: **Ikr Sona isn't shown enough love. She is my favorite support….okay that's a lie, sorry. My favorite support is actually Sion, but thats cuz he is so stupid to lane against lol. He is a big tanky meatball that can still support you even when he dies.

**Lightblade23: **She will definitely be meeting more champs. If I have my way she will eventually meet EVERY champ**.**

/

**Chapter 15**

/

It was only after walking down several halls did I realize I didn't actually know where the Arena was. I turned to Sona sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck. "You don't happen to know where the Arena is, do you?"

Her blank stare was answer enough. So with a sigh we kept walking, looking for someone to ask directions. We didn't have to travel very far before we ran across a group of students hanging out by one of the large windows.

Doing my best to put on a friendly demeanor, I approached the group. "Excuse me?" Seeing their curious gazes locked on me, I continued. "Do you guys know where the Arena is?"

One of the boys took the initiative and stepped forward slightly, a small smile on his face. "We do- " His gaze flickered down our forms, his lips tugging downward slightly. "-however I dont think we could talk you through it considering you probably wouldn't know the landmarks." He paused for a moment, scratching his chin in thought before continuing. "I suppose we could take you there though. I remember my first day here, I know I wish I had someone to help me out."

"If you would be willing to do that we would appreciate it." I said as I gave a slight curtsy, Sona not far behind.

The boy just nodded and we followed his group down the hall. "So why did you want to get to the arena? Classes don't start for another week."

"Ah, well I kind of got locked into an Honor Duel earlier." I nearly walked into him as he suddenly stopped and whirled around with wide eyes.

"You sort of what?!" He sounded incredulous. "What do you mean you got into an Honor Duel? Who in the world would challenge a first year like that, the school year hasn't even started yet!" He looked genuinely appalled at the thought.

I played with my hands awkwardly. "Well umm...I uhh...I'm sort of the one who issued it…..to an older girl…."

His mouth just opened and closed silently. "Bu-but why?" He sounded so lost, I felt a little bad. "Honor Duels are a serious thing! You don't just challenge someone to those! People can die! In fact people _have _died during honor duels! Why in the world would you do that? Do you think it's some sort of game!" His voice was getting angrier and angrier as he talked.

I blinked at him, shocked at the sheer anger he was displaying. "I'm well aware of how serious an Honor Duel is, but she was bullying my friend, _and_ insulted my family. I can't just sit back and let that sort of thing slide." I looked him in the eyes trying to convey my feelings properly. "I appreciate that you feel so strongly about me possibly endangering myself. But I can more than handle myself. Besides, as the insulted party it's well within my rights to dictate the rules so that we only use blunted blades. I have no intention of killing anyone, nor getting killed myself."

His tense shoulders loosened slightly as he let out a deep breath, his brown eyes shining with a mix of disappointment and understanding. "I suppose you're right. But I still think you're being horribly irresponsible." With that he turned back around and continued leading the way.

/

The Academy of Dawnhold technically had three arenas, but only one of them was equipped for such things like Honor Duels. The other two were essentially just gymnasiums with packed dirt floors, a glorified training yard really. But the one we were going to now was an amphitheatre hewn from polished white marble. The entrance itself had two statues of knights with their swords drawn skyward flanking either side of the door. With enough seats to hold the entire student body if needed.

Currently almost all the seats were empty, save for a few scant watchers who somehow heard of the upcoming duel.

I was standing off to the side near the weapons rack, picking up the various armaments, trying to find one similar enough to one I was familiar with. As I swung a rather thin blade through the air, Sona tapped my shoulder grabbing my attention.

She stood, awkwardly fidgeting. "Are you sure about this? What if you get hurt?" She signed worriedly.

I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to put her at ease. "I'll be fine Sona. Tell me, do you know who the Delacour family is?" Seeing her head shake, I continued. "The Delacours are a family of merchants. _Very_ successful merchants. I've heard my mother complain enough about them monopolizing trade contracts to know that they are _very, very _rich. Such a family would have no need for learning more than the bare minimum of self defense, assuming they even bother at all. And judging by how thin her arms were I doubt she has ever lifted a blade in her life. While I on the other hand have been drilled practically daily on how to defend myself since I was seven." Sona seemed to look a little better now at my words. Shooting her a grin I continued. "If anything you should be feeling bad _for _her."

I was glad to see that the worry on her face had receded a great deal now that I had explained it to her. Turning away from her I resumed my inspection of the various weapons, doing my best to hide my nervousness. I had spoken the truth, the girl's arms had lacked almost any sign of muscle definition, and her hands had looked soft and smooth, not a callous in sight. She bore no signs of ever doing anything besides basic exercise to stay in shape. But still I was nervous.

Never had I ever fought someone in melee. Training or sparring didn't count, as it was regulated and I knew the instructors had no intention of actually harming me. I most assuredly didn't count my fight with the Freljordians two years prior, using magic from a distance, and fighting physically up close were two entirely different things.

Finally finding a blade that felt right in my hands I set about going through some moves. Each swing flowing into the next, my muscles memory just going through the motions.

I was sure I would win the fight. In fact I was sure I outclassed the older girl so thoroughly in the art of combat that I would win without so much as a bruise to show for it. And yet, I was nervous.

Before long I grew tired of swinging at air and moved to sit with Sona on the bench. A quick glance around showed that while I had been busy more students had found their way into the stands.

"So…." I trailed off awkwardly. We hadn't talked face to face in a little over two years. I took the time to examine her out of the corner of my eye.

Her hair had gotten longer since I had last seen her, nearly brushing her shoulder blades. Her height had increased considerably, and her body had filled ever so slightly, very vague curves were becoming visible. Clearly she had already started puberty, something I had thankfully yet to go through. It was bad enough the first time I had gone through it as a guy, I was understandably rather apprehensive at the prospect of going through it again as a girl.

It seemed she had noticed my staring and was now staring back at me. We just stared at each other for a few moments, taking each other in.

"Your hair is very long."

I blinked at the unexpected comment. "Is that a good or bad thing?" Suddenly feeling a little self conscious, playing with the near elbow length strands.

"It looks fine." She quickly waved away my worry. "But wont it get in the way?" Finishing with a few mimed swings.

I snorted at her animated gestures. "Ah. Well yeah, if I just leave it loose like this it would." Reaching down I untied a leather thong from around my wrist. I used it to tie my hair back into a ponytail, I would probably need to cut it soon. As even with the ponytail, the length made it a bit unwieldy for physical activity. But for now it would be fine.

Once again we lapsed into awkward silence.

Trying to clear the awkwardness I spoke. "Why were they picking on you if you don't mind me asking? I only caught a few words."

She shrugged. "I don't mind, it's not like it's some secret anyways. As you know, until two years ago I lived as an orphan in Ionia. Lady Buvelle was visiting my village on some business and she decided to adopt me. Apparently some people have a problem with a 'nameless peasant reaching above their station'. They were trying to brow beat me into dropping out of the academy before you arrived." It was kind of weird seeing her put air quotes with her signs.

"Does that happen often? Why is this the first time I'm hearing of it." I scowled, staring at my friend thinking of all the letters we had traded over the years and how she had made no mention of any of this.

"Would it have mattered if I told you?" She sighed, the exhalation of air the only sound she was capable of making. "All it would have done was upset you."

"Doesn't mean I wouldn't have wanted to know." I huffed more than a little petulantly. I knew logically she was right, she lived all the way in the capital so it wasn't like I could have done much. Turning to her, a thought suddenly striking me. "Wait, what about Garen? He was in the capital for at least a year now. Does he know?" _The answer better be no. _If Garen kept this from me too, he was in for a very, _very_ strongly worded letter.

She shook her head. "He was always busy with his training, so I didn't want to bother him."

Breathing in deeply through my nose, I let out slowly. "Sona." I sighed softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Your our friend right?" Seeing her nod I continued. "And friends look out for each other, no matter what. Your happiness is our happiness, and vice versa. So I mean this when I say. The next time someone fucks with you. You _tell_ us. Understood?" My soft tone, turning hard and stern as I progressed.

She just stared at me, her mouth agape, her hands fluttering, half way forming signs but never completely following through. With a click her mouth shut, her gaze met mine head on and she nodded a resolute expression on her face.

My stern expression melted into an easy grin. "Good, glad we got that settled, 'cause it looks like she's finally here." I could see Bianca across the arena, a sword in hand. I could tell from where I was sitting that the length of the blade was all off for her build, it hung awkwardly unbalanced in her hands.

_This was going to be even easier than I thought. _

Even so, the nervous knot in my stomach had yet to untie.

/

"Lady Delacour." I nodded to the girl.

She nodded back stiffly. "Lady Crownguard."

We both turned to watch the designated watcher, an older gentleman who I assumed was a teacher and not a student. Unless we had a member of staff, or someone of high standing our duel wouldn't count and would thus be counted as an unauthorized fight.

"State the reason for this Honor duel so all may bear witness." He boomed over the murmurings of the crowd.

The girl across from me stayed silent, knowing she didn't really have any grounds to stand on. Seeing that I chose to be the one to speak. "Bianca Delacour insulted my family, and insulted the Buvelle family."

"What say you, Lady Delcacour? Do you deny these claims?"

Her only options were to either decry me a liar or to own up to her prior actions. Obviously she chose the one that wasnt the equivelent of social suicide. Through gritted teeth she spoke "Lady Crownguard speaks the truth." The murmuring in the stands began anew, this time with greater excitement. Everyone loves good gossip, the fact that the student body consisted entirely of nobles or the incredibly rich just made it all the worse. And considering the game of telephone would no doubt continue on in the form of letters to their families, I wouldn't have been surprised if by the weeks end she had gone from insulting the Crownguards to eating babies or something along those lines. Her face paled considerably as she realized the damage that would be done to her standing in the student body. I felt a surge of vindictive joy when Bianca realized what her actions had done.

That was the true purpose of Honor Duels. At least in my opinion. It wasn't about hurting or even killing your opponent. It was about destroying their reputation. In a society as honor driven as Demacia, reputation was something that was almost more valuable than one's health or even life.

"The rules as dictated by Lady Crownguard are thus. No live steel is too be used, and whichever side concedes first or is incapacitated, is to be declared the loser of Duel. May the Protectors Just Gaze be upon this Duel. Begin!"

Just as I tightened my grip on the leather handle, my mind already working out the best way to approach the girl in front of me. The hair on the back of my neck rose, I didn't even have the time for the sensation to properly register before what felt like a lance was thrust through my chest.

/

I nearly dropped my sword.

An invisible hand seemed to be lodged in my chest, it digits groping around in search of something.

It had been so unexpected, so all encompassing in its violation of me that I didn't. No, I _couldn't_ scream. It didn't feel malicious in its questing movements, it was as if what it was doing was a normal everyday occurrence. If I had to describe it, the presence let off this feeling of pure apathy, as if it were simply going through the motions, its attention focused elsewhere. It didn't care.

My magic finally caught on to the foreign presence in my body and reacted accordingly. Condensing in my body to form a sort of shield to push back the invader with. It worked. For a second, a single heart stopping second, the questing hand met resistance and stopped in its tracks. Much like what happens when a person is rooting around in the dark and finds something unexpected, the hand recoiled. At first I thought I had beat whatever it was, then I felt _it_.

The feeling of apathy was gone, and in its place was anger. A hot righteous fury swallowed the presence, wreathing the hand in a flame that felt achingly familiar. It felt like the hand had gained infinitely more mass than it had once possessed, whatever Being was behind it was now focusing entirely on me. Once more it reached out, my shield suddenly feeling so horribly inadequate compared to the sheer power the Presence was exuding. When it reached my barrier the flames simply blazed so hot and fierce that my magic had scattered like dust before a hurricane. The hand moved ever onward, deeper inside me, deeper than any physical object could ever hope to peirce, then finally it _touched me_. Not my body, but _me_. My soul, whatever it was that made me who I was. The flames surrounding the hand licked at my soul, so hot that for a moment I feared it would burn it away. But as quick as it had touched it, it had disappeared, as it left I could feel a vague echo of satisfaction. Leaving me light headed and woozy at the feeling of having my magic swatted aside like a errent gnat, and then have what I could only call my soul be put in a metaphysical sauna.

My vision swam, and I nearly fell over then and there. It was only the glint of light off of the practice blade that brought me back to my senses. And only just. The blade whistled within a hair's breadth of my nose, so close that I would have sworn I had felt the chill of the metal. My sudden lunge backwards while saving me from taking a sword to the head, had the unfortunate side effect of making my already swimming vision almost black out entirely. It seemed that though the world had slowed tremendously while I was under that metaphysical siege, it had not stopped entirely.

Again Bianca swung at me, an overhead strike this time. My muscle memory the only thing allowing me to deflect it, if very sloppily. Luckily against such an inexperienced fighter, even that horrible parry had been enough. I stepped back, trying to buy time and hopefully regain my faculty. Thankfully, with her inexperience she probably didn't realize just how awful my defense was at the moment. Deciding instead to circle me, looking for a gap in my defense. I certainly wasn't going to complain, as every second that passed I could feel myself getting stronger.

She stepped forward and lunged at my chest, I tilted my body, allowing her to sail past me, sticking out a foot she tumbled, the sword by some miracle didn't fly out of her grip. She managed to scramble back to her feet remarkably quickly. Her breathing already coming out in harsh pants, these quick bursts of exertion clearly more than she was used to.

This time, I took the initiative, my sword flashing toward her left. She tried to block it, her sword nearly flying out of her unprepared grip. She winced, not expecting the sensation of the sword trying to twist her wrist a way it wasn't meant to. There was a reason most fighters didn't try to cold stop an incoming weapon, instead we more or less guided the blade away from us. Parrying was just a far superior tactic to blocking. It saved energy and ensured you wouldn have to pray your physically stronger than your opponent. No matter how strong they were in comparison, it wouldn't matter if the blade was no longer heading towards you.

In this case, not only was I physically stronger, I knew how to properly use those muscles to maximize my swing. She on the other hand didn't even know how to properly block, let alone which muscles needed to be used to stop such a swing. The end result was her sword being knocked to the side and my own blade thwacking solidly against her arm causing her to drop her sword.

She cried out in pain, making me flinch. Somehow the sound of her cry making the reality of the situation finally hit me. I was beating up a _child._ I nearly dropped my own sword in horror. While she was in the process of retrieving her fallen sword, I took a moment to think.

_Was this okay? _

My knee jerk answer was that no, this most certainly was not okay. But as I pondered the problem, the answer shifted. This world wasn't like my old one. Its rules were different, its people were different, everywhere I looked I could see the differences, some small and subtle, others more blatant and obnoxious.

I had done things in this life I had never imagined doing before. I learned how to fight, I had actual magic, I had run into what I was pretty sure was an actual demon. _I had_ _Killed Multiple People_. I thought incredulously. And yet for some reason, _this_ is where my mind decided to draw the line? A crying girl?

A girl whose tears I was responsible for. A girl who couldn't have been older than thirteen. A girl who was currently taking a swing at my head.

My blade came up and I felt the jarring impact run down my arms. With a twist and a jerk, her sword was sent flying some feet away. Before, I had intended to stretch this out as long as possible, to make her as miserable as I could. But now I just held the sword to her neck.

"Yield?" I desperately hoped she would say yes. I wasn't sure I could bring myself to continue fighting with my will so shaken.

She held her hands up. "I yield!" She shouted towards the Watcher.

I allowed my arm to fall to the side. Once the fight was officially over did I realize people were clapping and making sounds of joy. Anger surged through me, were they happy? Two kids trying to bludgeon each other and they were happy?

I clamped down on that spike of anger before I did something stupid. This whole day was just a mess, first I find out Sona was apparently being bullied, then that Presence did whatever it had done to me, and now I had to deal with some sort of sudden moral crisis? I just wanted to find a nice dark room, preferably far from any other human beings, and organize my thoughts.

As I approached the weapons rack, Sona practically tackled me as she threw her arms around me. Taken aback by the sudden hug I just stood there awkwardly until she let go. "You didn't even get hit!" Her eyes shining in her exuberance.

Her earnest expression making me temporarily forget my prior anger. "I told you, you didn't need to worry."

"Yeah, but like you said, we're friends and friends worry about each other right?"

My chest suddenly felt so warm and light. "Yeah. Your right." As I put the sword away the sound of someone clearing their throats made me turn around.

"Excuse me Miss Crownguard, Miss Buvelle." It was the Watcher. "The headmaster requests that you come to his office as soon as possible.

"Of course..." I trailed off, not knowing who he was.

Taking the window I gave him. "My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Darwin Yowelstine. But you may call me Professor Yowelstine. I teach first year biology."

I curtsied. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Professor Yowelstine. Thank you for watching over the duel. You can rest assured that I will be heading straight to the Headmasters office once I leave here."

"Ah, I think you misunderstand. He requested to see both you, and Lady Buvelle."

"Oh..." I didn't know what else to say to the unexpected turn of events. "Are we in trouble?"

"No!" He was quick to assuage my concerns. "I believe he merely wishes to formally apologize to Miss Buvelle."

I nodded in understanding. To be bullied on one's first day must paint a rather bad image of the rest of the school. Though I had to wonder if his apology was one borne of genuine remorse, or if it had more to do with who Sona's family was, especially now that he was aware she was close to me. I hoped it was the first reason. I could really use some good news right about now.

/

Sometimes being King wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

People only see the grand clothes, the power, the prestige, the shiny gold crown with its even shinier gems. What they failed to see was the prematurely earned gray hairs, the stress lines on my face that hadn't been there even a half decade earlier.

The masses only saw what they wanted to see. What they _needed_ to see.

A regal man.

A strong man.

A man who always did what was just.

The embodiment of Demacian ideals.

But it was a lie.

I wasn't regal, just had good training and lots of experience acting the part. I supposed I was strong, but it wasn't anything special, especially after the years I had spent in meetings instead of in a training yard. And I most assuredly didn't always do what was just.

That last one had never felt more true than in that moment. As I held the report in my hands. A man who always did what was just would have taken up a call to arms after reading the contents of the parchment.

Instead my hand simply tightened, wrinkling the parchment slightly.

"How sure are we of the accuracy of this?"

"Very sir. The report is a first hand accounting by one of our spies. We even obtained a small sample of it." The head of intelligence told me from his seat at the council table.

My eyes closed and I swore softly, loosening my grip and letting the parchment flutter down to the ornate table. When I opened them, it was to the sight of my council looking at me with solemn or grimm faces.

"Have your people find a countermeasure. Spare no expenses, this is too important." The head of intelligence nodded his affirmation.

Turning to the rest of the council I continued. "We need to reinforce our border, if, no when-" I corrected myself "-Noxus turns its gaze on us we need to be ready. Protector save us if we aren't."

As the council began to deliberate on the best course of action, I found my gaze turning back to the parchment laying oh so innocently on the table. But the story it told was far from innocent.

Noxus had deployed some sort of poison bomb on Ionian villages. And if the report was accurate it seemed they had only been doing it to test its potency. The quad digit death toll scribbled in black ink said it was very potent indeed.

If I had been a just man I would have already rallied the troops and sailed to Ionias defence.

But I wasn't a just man. I couldn't afford to be something so noble. For I was a King.

A just man did what was best for everyone. A King did what was best for his people.

/

**AN: Hey guys! Hope y'all like the chapter. If you have any ideas, comments, complaints etc etc PM or Review. I love hearing from you guys.**

**Oh just saying as a reminder, Sona is Twelve while Lux just turned Ten. But since Sona was adopted into the Buvelle Family she didn't have the knowledge needed to attend the academy. So she was tutored at home until she met the Academy standard for first years.**

**As a reminder Kayle is the Protector. Demcians look up to her as some sort of Goddess of justice. Or something along those lines. Canon doesn't really do a good job of explaining exactly what her role is in demacia. But I figure you would invoke her for Honor Duels. **

**BTW Honor Duels are a thing. Fiora is renowned for them, although she fights to the death. She even said in her short story that she has killed 14 men in these duels. She always offers them a way out of the Duel if they follow her demands, but they always refuse, not willing to concede their honor/pride. **

**The part that isnt Canon is that the Victim gets to dictate the rules, but I figure they should have that as a thing soooo yeah. **

**Also that last POV shift I feel is pretty Canon. I mean Noxus did test/use poison weapons in Ionia, and I imagine that the rest of the world was shook at the news of those kinds of weapons being used in war. I'm reasonably sure that, that was the first time Poison weapons were used in a war setting in Runeterra. **

**Anyone figure out what happened with Lux at the start of the duel? The hints are there, sort of? Lol I think it's possible to figure it out without me telling you, but then again i'm the writer so I always know what's going on. The reason why that scene was confusing and jarring is because we're looking at it from her perspective. First person who figures it out gets another Gold Star.**

/

**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

**If you want to help support me, my Patron is the same as my fanfic account, SuperiorFreak. **


	16. Chapter 16

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**Chapter 16**

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The man sitting behind the mahogany desk had his black hair slicked back through the use of a copious amount of gel. His face was narrow, nose sharp, and had eyes the color of amber. He looked more like a business man with his suit and tie, rather than the Headmaster of a prestigious academy he was supposed to be.

"Miss Buvelle, I cannot express how terribly sorry we are for what you went through this day. I assure you those responsible will be properly disciplined." The Headmaster's saccharine tone told me what I needed to know. It was a tone I had heard many times at events I had been forced to attend these last few years. "If there is anything me or our faculty can do to help make your stay more amenable to you, just let us know."

_He wants something. _Of that I was sure, the only question now was what ambitions this man was aspiring towards.

I couldn't tell if Sona was experienced enough to pick up on the same tells I did, but her face was certainly doing its best to impersonate a tomato. Her head was just beginning to shake when I kicked her in the shin. I must have done it harder than I had intended for her face screwed up comically and her eyes bugged out, and if I had read her lips properly, she'd said something rather unladylike.

I had to suppress the amused snort that wanted to bubble forth, who knew little innocent Sona knew such potty language? "Actually, Headmaster I was thinking that there might be something you could do."

"Oh?" His expression suddenly sharpened, giving off the disconcerting feeling of a predator looking for a weakness.

I ignored the instincts telling me he was a threat, forcefully keeping my posture relaxed. My smile was warm and genuine, or at least it may as well have been genuine after all the hours my mother had me sit down in front of the mirror to get my expressions _just right_. "After seeing my friend be talked to in such a manner, I fear whoever would be assigned as her roommate would be of the same mind. So I was thinking that perhaps you could arrange it so I was her roommate?"

I may have had a strong dislike for people trying to brown nose, but it didn't mean I wasn't willing to take advantage of it either. If they wanted to give a free swing, I would be a fool to refuse.

Sona being my friend, or even her being bullied wasn't the only reason I was so keen on such an arrangement. The real reason I wanted this was because of our magic. I had never confided in Sona about my magic nor my knowledge of her own magic, at first it was because I didn't know the girl enough to trust with my secret. And later it was because I didn't trust the privacy of our letters, with such a dangerous secret it would only take one curious servant taking a peak to doom or even blackmail the both of us.

Now that I not only trusted Sona and we were now seeing each other in person, I felt it was prudent that we both were aware of each other's magic. This way we could use our magic without fear in the sanctity of our dorm, and we could both have someone to confide in regarding any magical related issues that may crop up.

"What a wonderful idea Miss Crownguard." He bore an agreeable expression, his tone once more sickly sweet, as if praising a particularly smart monkey. "I will personally see to such an arrangement."

"Thank you Headmaster." I gave a slight bow of my head in thanks, internally squashing the indignation that tried to rise up.

"Oh don't mention it!" He said jovially, waving it off. "It's the least I can do."

My smile widened, eyes crinkling in mirth that I didn't feel. "And to think I was apprehensive when my mother told me I would be attending The Academy." I made sure to pronounce the capital letters, my efforts bore immediate fruit as he puffed up with pride. "I clearly misjudged how my time here would go."

"If I recall you wished to speak to me earlier right?" My gaze was innocent as I blinked at him through wide eyes.

The immediate stiffening of his posture and the way his face froze was priceless.

_Gotcha. _For the first time my amusement was genuine. By buttering him up, it made his guard come down, allowing my sudden switch of topics to catch him flat footed. People revealed a lot more than they intend when they are caught off guard.

"Ah." He chuckled. "It wasn't all that important, we can talk about it another time." His gaze darted to Sona and back to me so rapidly I might have missed it if I had blinked at that moment.

Translation? Whatever he wanted to talk to me about was something he wanted me alone for. I was admittedly curious what angle he was trying to work that required him to talk to me alone.

Regardless I would be sure to mention this to my parents in the letter I would be sending tonight. While challenging Bianca had felt good in the moment, it most certainly would cause issues somewhere down the line. Mom will no doubt be reaming me out on my impulsive action, while simultaneously telling me all the numerous ways I could have handled the situation better.

Truth be told, I wasn't sure why I had reacted so impulsively, Garen was normally the one to use a force as his first course of action, while I tended to try and come at problems sideways. Was it really as simple as the fact that it had been Sona who was being bullied? Whatever the case, I would be sure to think about it more later.

"Well if that was all, I suppose we should go, after all this grand academy won't explore itself." I brushed down my skirt as I stood, giving a slight curtsy to the man.

"Might I suggest visiting the Gardens? Their home to a great many rare plants from all across Runeterra. Most of the plants should be in full bloom this time of year."

"Thank you for the suggestion." My words and expressions were truly genuine this time. I really did enjoy plants, and if his boasts were true, I would be seeing alot of new and exotic plants. My family garden was nice all, but after nearly eight years of exploring it, I wouldn't have been surprised if I knew it better than the gardener that took care of it.

We walked in silence for a bit, Sona waited until we were around a corner and out of sight of the shut door before stopping.

"We're gonna be roommates!" She signed excitedly at me.

"Yes, I am aware." I said wryly. "I was there afterall."

She rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Sorry for this by the way."

"Wha-" I didn't even get to finish the first word as I suddenly found myself hopping on one foot, massaging my abused shin. "Sona?! What the heck!?" I hissed between clenched teeth.

"In Ionia we have a saying." She grinned as she signed down at my bent over form. "Paybacks a bitch."

"Now, let's go 'explore this Grand Academy'" She quoted at me, somehow managing to convey sarcasm through signs.

I watched her retreating form for a few minutes before stomping off after her. Though I imagine the amused grin on my face made my attempt at anger look more comical than anything else.

/

While I had never been to the Castle in the Capital, I had heard it described, my mother even had a painting of it commissioned recently to have hung in her office. The academy bore a striking resemblance to it, with its grand towers and thick walls. It was such a strong resemblance that I wouldn't have been surprised if the architects had designed the academy with the royal palace in mind.

While it was very ornate to the point of obnoxious in places, I could still see clear chokepoints and even the occasional arrow slits hidden amongst the various carvings that decorated the walls. This place was as fit for war as it was for study. I suppose it shouldn't have surprised me considering this place housed nobles from all across Demacia and beyond. This place needed to be able to repel any attacker.

It was as I was wondering about the possibility for hidden passageways in the walls that I walked into an irate Sona. I stumbled backwards awkwardly from the unexpected impact.

She had her arms crossed and an unimpressed expression on her face. I cringed under her gaze, not even needing her to sign for me to get the message.

"Sorry?" I said meekly. I hunched over even further when her brow raised. "I didn't mean to ignore you, I just got distracted is all."

She stared at me for a few more moments, huffing and rolling her eyes, she gestured for us to keep walking. "I arrived yesterday, so I already did a bit of exploring. There's this water fountain on the east plaza that I think you would love."

"Lead on." I said with a grand gesture.

The fountain in question was definitely a sight to behold. It was of Piltovan design and as such utilized alot of bronze work that glimmered brilliantly due to the already shimmering light reflecting off the water. A countless multitude of artfully exposed gears and pistons could be seen all across the piece under the water, turning and pumping in a hypnotic display of mechanical engineering.

But the thing that really made my eyes widen was the sound. A low keening sound that seemed to change frequency in tune with the movement of the gears. It created a haunting melody that was as beautiful as it was sad.

"Wow." I whispered, swaying in tune with the ethereal music. "It's beautiful."

Sona frowned slightly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?"

"You're crying."

"What?" I swiped at my face, my fingers came away wet. I laughed a little. "Sorry, the music is just so..." I struggled to put it into words for a moment. "...it just hits me here." I tapped my chest. "Ya know?"

"Lux." She paused, holding eye contact to convey her seriousness. "There is no music."

I froze staring at her, my mouth opening and closing uselessly. What was I supposed to say to that?

"What?" I closed my eyes for a moment and focused on the music. This time rather than simply losing myself to it like I had earlier, I _really _listened. It sounded like it was coming from the fountain, but if Sona wasn't playing a prank, then that meant whatever was making the music was in all likelihood magical in nature. It actually reminded me of the subtle reverberations I could feel from Sona.

_Piltovan design, magic, music that seems linked to the various moving parts. _If Sona wasn't watching me with a concerned expression I would have snapped my fingers as I connected the dots.

There was only one thing that I could think of that fit with the information I had. The thing that was making the music that only I could hear was a hex crystal. Or as it was otherwise known in Shurima, its place of origin. A sing stone, a much more apt name now that I've heard it myself.

This was my first time seeing actual hex tech. Miriam's workshop back in Silvermere was the closest I had gotten to hex tech, but all of his items were purely mechanical, no magic crystals involved. Truthfully I was surprised no one had made an issue of it considering Demacia's stance on all things magic, though I supposed that it was entirely possible that the magic crystal at its heart wasn't public knowledge.

The mageseekers also probably gave the academy a lot of leeway, especially with how much noble blood flowed through its halls. Prosecuting nobles was a good way to make powerful enemies, magic or not, the mageseekers werent that stupid. The mageseekers were beholden to the King, and even the King had to keep his nobles happy or face the consequences.

Shit, she was still staring at me! I racked my brain to think about what I could possibly say to her to explain. "Well duh!" I waved my hand dismissively "I wasn't talking about music music, I was talking about the sound the fountain made. It's like music! All those gears working in harmony? It's amazing!" The smile on my face felt strained with how wide I was smiling.

I needed her to believe I was just _really_ into fine craftsmanship, it wasn't even entirely a lie. Watching such precise engineering at work really was fascinating, and the methodical clanking and clicks it produced was pleasing in its own way. The alarm clock I had commissioned from Miriam's had a glass outer case that let me see its internal workings.

She blinked at me, a slightly suspicious slant to her features.

_Please buy it. _I thought hopefully, I wasn't sure I could come up with a better lie if she didn't believe this one.

A tense second passed by, then two, then finally much to my relief her face relaxed and she smiled at me. "Of course. How silly of me, for a second there I thought you went crazy." She shook her head ruefully.

I barely restrained myself from sighing in relief. _Thank goodness she believed me._

_/_

My eyes darted around, a gobsmacked expression no doubt on my face. Begrudgingly I had to acknowledge that the Headmaster wasn't full of air when he recommended we come here.

The Garden was actually a greenhouse roughly the size of a football field, it was at least a hundred feet tall, allowing for fully sized trees to grow in comfort. Plants of all size, shape, and color grew. The air itself smelt alive, the scent of blooming flowers mixing pleasantly with the earthy smell of freshly tilled dirt.

I ran from plant to plant, barely spending enough time to truly appreciate one before moving on to the next one. A bemused Sona on my tail. As I ran around I realized the plants were segregated by the varying regions of Runeterra, most likely to help make it easier for the gardeners to care for the plants as they no doubt had much different needs than a plant from a different region.

I ignored the Demacian section, the garden in our home had almost all of those plants. Instead focusing on the, at least in my eyes the much more interesting regions. It was so interesting how much the plants differed from region to region.

Noxus with its windswept plains and its craggy mountains created an interesting contrast of plants, they were more rugged and practical rather than pretty.

Surprising absolutely no one, Shurima the desert country didn't have that many plants. Though the few they did have were rather interesting, if only because the harsh environment forced some rather unique adaptations you wouldn't see in any other region..

Sona must have seen something that had interested her as when I turned around she was nowhere to be seen. "Sona?!" I called out hesitantly, listening for a response. Slapping my forehead a moment later as I remembered who I was talking to. With a sigh I began my search for the wayward bluenette.

As it turned out she hadn't wandered too far, she stood in the entrance of a section I hadn't been too yet. "Sona! There you-" I paused mid sentence, the veritable wall of magic that slammed into my senses making me stumble mid stride. I stared at the girl with wide eyes, watching as her blue locks seemed to rise on their own accord. If all those clues had keyed me into the fact that she was angry, her tightly clenched fists and shaking shoulders clinched it.

"Sona?" Seeing no need to startle the obviously distressed mage, I approached slowly, my tone as soft as I could make it. Still no reaction. I tried again, but this time putting my hand on her shoulder.

The reaction was immediate as she whipped around to glare at me with slightly glowing blue eyes, it took all my willpower to not form a shield then and there. The magic that had been rolling off of her earlier was unfocused, now it felt like every bit of it was all focused on me, the pressure of it feeling like a few pounds resting on my shoulders. As it was I took a very visible step back. I didn't know what had set her off but I didn't need her taking a swing at me, whether it be magically or physically.

A few tense moments passed with us staring at each other. Me trying my best to look unthreatening, and her trying to set me ablaze with her gaze alone. Seeing the situation not improving I tried a new tactic.

"Sona, I don't know what has you so mad but you need to calm down." My next words were practically a whisper. "You're magic is showing."

I could literally feel the impact of my words before I saw it. The crackling pressure that had been bearing down on me suddenly vanished, and her hair fell back down if not a little bit more disheveled. Her expression looked stricken, her wide blue eyes darting to a fro full of undisguised panic and fear.

My brow furrowed in confusion at such a visceral reaction. My eyes widening slightly as I realized what was happening. In her eyes I was a Demacian, and everyone knew what a good Demacian did with mages. And I had just outed her as a mage. Before I could say another word, she bolted.

Or should I say she _tried_.

As she ran past me, I grabbed her arm and held fast. I couldn't have her jumping at conclusions, I needed to talk and talk fast. Wrapping my arms around her midsection I lifted the taller girl off the ground. With her panicked squirming I would surely lose my grip on her in a few moments. But that was fine, I only needed a few moments to drag her into the section she had been standing in the entrance of.

Once there I allowed myself to go limp, dragging her down to the dirt with me and proceeded to wrestle her into a submission hold. For the first time in my life I was glad she was mute, if she wasn't this would have been a whole lot more difficult. But since I didn't have to yell over panicked screaming, it was as simple as putting my lips to her ears and whispering something I had never willingly told someone.

"I'm a mage too."

She froze the moment my words processed in her head. Slowly I let her go, allowing her to stand up. I stayed laying down, allowing her to have a semblance of power over the situation, if she wanted to run now I wouldn't be able to get up in time. With her posture still skittish and with a sceptical expression on her face she signed.

"Show me."

A quick glance around showed no one in the area, or at least no one was visible at least. If I wanted her trust I would have to take the gamble. Holding my palm face up I allowed a small orb of light to coalesce, taking only a thought to change into the vague outline of a female. I allowed the small hologram to disperse, not willing to have proof of my magic for longer than I had to. At least not while in an unsecure location.

The realization that she wasn't in danger anymore must have sapped her of her strength.

Without a single sign, Sona just sunk down to her knees in front of me. We stayed that way in pure silence for a few minutes.

"Sona?" Seeing her look at me I continued. "What was it that had you so mad?"

It seemed that in the prior excitement she had completely forgotten her earlier rage, as she looked surprised by my question for a moment before her posture tensed. With visible anger she waved around and signed. Her signs were sloppy with anger, but I managed to get the message. "This desecration."

'_Desecration?'_ I looked around in confusion, taking in the sight of the flora that surrounded us. "...the plants?" I asked hesitantly.

"These are Ionian plants." She looked at me expectantly, as if it were something obvious. I continued to just blinked at her. She exhaled in irritation. "Ionian plants are magical. And this ground here has petricite in it." She smacked the ground for emphasis.

I stared at the ground with furrowed brows as I focused my magic sense, I blinked in surprise as I realized Sona was right, specks of petricite dust was sprinkled amongst the dirt. I must have been so accustomed to the pull of petricite that I hadn't even noticed the miniscule pull.

Now with new eyes I looked around, noticing the dullness of the plants' leaves and flowers. Some looked like they were on the verge of dying as it is, drooping branches with a scarce scattering of leaves indicating that it was still alive.

I knew from the books I had read that Ionian plants were some of the most unique and vibrant plants in the world. But as Sona had said, these plants were magical in nature, so putting them in a place without magic was like putting them in a desert.

Ionians viewed nature as a living force, almost akin to a god. Though I couldn't exactly call them foolish when their whole country was a literally sentient landmass, capable of interacting with those who lived on it. They had a deep respect for nature, so for Sona this must have been seen as the ultimate insult. Taking the plants from Ionia was bad enough on its own, but to intentionally put it in a place with no magic? That was just plain offensive. It would be like taking a cross and using it as firewood.

Now her sudden anger at me earlier made more sense, after all I was Demacian born and bred. She might not have truly blamed me for the actions of kinsmen, but anger does funny things in the heat of the moment, and I was the closest outlet for her frustration to latch onto.

"I can't say I understand how you feel seeing this." I gestured around us. "But not all of Demacia is like this. We're….misguided," I let out a slow breathe before continuing. "but we can be better. One day it _will _get better. Or at least that's my hope anyways." I laughed lightly, though I doubt it sounded convincing. The worst part was that I genuinely thought Demacia had the potential to be great, we just had to get out of our own way first.

Fear of magic while not entirely unjustified considering the shit show that was Rune wars, it was taken to extremes and exploited in Demacia. Sometimes I wondered if the mageseekers propaganda was done out of genuine desire to keep Demacia safe, or if they just really hated mages. Considering my old world's problems, it was probably a mix of both, the ratio was up for debate though. Every organization had their true believers and those willing to exploit those true believers.

I reached over and picked up one of the flowers that had fallen off. It was so shriveled up that I only recognized it as a flower thanks to its pale lavender hue. As I placed it in my palm I felt a drain on my magic, I had to stop myself from dropping it from sheer shock. If I wasn't so intimately familiar with the pull of petricite I would have mistaken it for that, but I was, so I didnt. It felt similar, but the pull was infinitely weaker, if petricite was a vacuum cleaner, then this was like someone sucking through a straw. They were only really comparable because they both sucked up magic.

With such a gentle pull and feeling a bit curious, I felt safe enough to let the tight grip on my magic slip a little, allowing the little flower to take what it wanted. Like I was watching a timelapse in reverse the shriveled mass of plant matter seemed to inflate and unfurl, its once pale lavender deepening into a deep violet which seemed to glow and pulsate in tune with my magic.

Sona was staring at me with a look of shock. She seemed to have some sort of epiphany as she crawled to the nearest flower on the ground. The results were immediate if not as stunning as my own, while the flower in her hand began to swell and gain color, the process was much slower. Perhaps taking a full minute whereas mine took a handful of seconds. But slower or not the results were the same as we found ourselves holding very similar flowers, though mine was noticeably bigger and held a brighter glow.

I wondered why that was the case. Perhaps a difference in our affinities contributed to the end result? Mine was light which was obviously related to plant growth, and Sona' was….sound?

I was brought out of my thoughts when I noticed Sona gleefully reaching towards the nearest plant, her intentions clear. "Sona! Stop!" Thankfully she paused and glanced in my direction. "We can't help the plants. We shouldn't have even done this much." I shook my flower for emphasis. Seeing her about to sign I bulldozed over her. "If we do anything to the help the plants we'll draw attention to ourselves. If even half the plants glow like these flowers do you really think no one would notice or want to investigate the sudden change?"

She looked conflicted, a part of her clearly wanted to do it anyways, but she also knew I was right. I only needed to push a bit more and I would have her.

"We can't help the plants today, but that doesn't mean we _can't_ help them." She looked curious, hopeful even. "We can talk to the Gardener about changing out the dirt in here, I mean we wouldn't even need to mention magic, just point out how something clearly wasn't working for these plants, we could say something about contaminated soil or something." While I held hope that the Gardener didn't know about the petricite, I was all too aware what most Demacians thought of magic.

I could see her nodding along, a genuine smile on her lips. Now I hoped she wouldn't react badly to what I had to say next.

"We need to destroy the flowers." She actually scooted backwards at my proclamation, hugging her flower protectively, a fierce expression on her face. "Sona, think about it, what are we gonna do with these? They're literally glowing flowers Sona! I don't know if you noticed but Demacia has a distinct lack of glowing flowers. We might as well wear signs that we have magic."

"We could just leave them here." She signed stubbornly.

"And leave evidence of magic here? That's a good way to catch the attention of mageseekers. They probably have spies looking for just such a thing." While I wasn't entirely sure if they did have spies here, I needed Sona to listen to me. Considering I was trying to keep us both safe, I thought a little white lie could be excused.

Truth be told I wish I hadn't let my curiosity get the better of me, especially when it came to anything magical. In fact I was rather confused as to why I thought it had even been a good idea at all, heck just a minute earlier I had been paranoid about showing Sona my magic in such a public venue. Yet I had done something so obviously wreckless almost without a second thought.

_First I issued that Honor Duel, now this? What the hell was wrong with me? I've never been this impulsive. Maybe it's just the new surroundings and I'm just overly excited or something? Yeah that's what it is. _Even as I thought it, the explanation felt hollow.

She stared mournfully at her flower before looking back at me. She thrust her hand out to me, as I took the flower from her she was slow to fully relinquish it.

"I wish there was another way Sona." I told her regretfully, I truly did wish I could have done it differently. But the risks far outweighed the potential benefits. I had made two stupid descisions today, I wouldnt be risking a third. Taking another quick glance around to check for any bystanders. "You might want to look away for this next bit." With that warning given, I stoked the magic in my chest.

A sphere of bright white light formed around the flowers, my hands cupping the ball as I concentrated on increasing the internal temperature without allowing the outside to increase in brightness. It was already a risk as it was to use my magic, let alone lighting up the entire greenhouse with it. But even with my attempts at hiding it, the sphere had a radiance that hurt to look at directly, for anyone else at any rate. Its temperature was now well above that of a forge, yet the skin on my palms felt like I was gripping a sun warmed stone.

After a few seconds I released my magic. "Shit!" I hissed as I jumped up, brushing the pile of hot ash that was dumped onto my exposed knees. I may have been immune to my own magic, but that didn't make me immune to what it caused.

Sona shot me a concerned look at my exclamation. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good, just some ash." I waved off her concern.

"Good, now let's get out of here." She stood and reached down for my hand.

"Yes. Lets." I said as I took her offered hand.

/

**AN: Yeah, i'm not really sure what to say. This quarantine has seriously killed my energy. I didn't suffer from writer's block, I just quite literally lost the will to write, or do anything really. I just sat at home playing video games for months. I can't even use the excuse that I was busy. **

**I just genuinely couldn't gather the energy needed to write.**

**Thank you everyone who followed/favorited, and left reviews. I would totally respond to the reviews like I normally do, but I'm struggling enough as it is to write this. Hell, I'm not even typing right now, I'm using the voice to text function for this author's note. So yeah…. **

**If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, feel free to pm or review. I love talking with y'all. Although with how lethargic i've been feeling I'm not sure how fast my response time will be.**

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**I feel the need to lead with the fact that donations probably won't speed up my writing speed. ****I'm not really hurting for money so don't feel obligated, and it's not like getting paid will speed up my writing all that much. But if you are feeling generous I certainly won't complain lol.**

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